


The Little Dumbass

by BoStarsky, Ellalba



Series: Assorted Kylux [57]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Flirting, Bottom Kylo Ren, Fluff, Kylo is a trash wearing himbo, Lost in Translation, M/M, Misunderstandings, Snoke is reconsidering his life choices, Some Descriptions of Violence, its just Kylo that's stupid, mermaid au, sharks are friends, the sharks commit no crimes, there is some magic involved, this is totally an H2O inspired Little Mermaid AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:22:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28209000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoStarsky/pseuds/BoStarsky, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellalba/pseuds/Ellalba
Summary: Happy in his own little bubble Kylo spends his days collecting the pretty things the humans drop in the water and exploring his favourite places along the coast, until he meets the most beautiful merman he's ever seen. Only things aren't always what they seem. This Kylo learns the hard way.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Assorted Kylux [57]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/993903
Comments: 84
Kudos: 79
Collections: Kylux Big Bang 2020





	1. Catch of the Day

**Author's Note:**

> Finally I can post this! Man, I've been excited to get it out there so we can show off what wee created together.
> 
> The beautiful art is of course by the Talented Ellalba. 
> 
> And betaed by Death-Complex
> 
> (Link in the end notes)
> 
> Enjoy!

His mother always tells him not to stray too close to where the land dwellers are, but Kylo is curious and confident in his ability to defend himself should he need it. Despite the warnings, he enjoys all the strange things he can find when venturing up the river to the crystal clear pools the land dwellers sometimes bathe in. They lose so many things in the water and it’s always a joy trying to find out what they are. 

Until today he’s never seen another merman this far away from the pod. In fact he’s never seen him at all and what a shame that is. He’s beautiful; long fins flowing in the gentle current, his tail a shimmery pink like a perfect pearl. Swimming closer, Kylo can pick out the white patterns on his scales, his underbelly pale and soft. 

How could he never have seen him before? As the prince he should have seen most of the pod at some point and he’s sure he’d remember this one. Hiding in the reeds, Kylo stares. He watches him glide through the water, occasionally sticking his head above the surface to have a look. It isn’t until the merman catches a fin between two rocks and a tangle of grass that he approaches with the vain hope that helping will get him noticed. 

The merman looks surprised to see him but accepts his help without question. Kylo’s claws make quick work of the grass, shredding it so he can easily pry the rocks apart. The moment he’s free the merman swims to the surface and Kylo eagerly follows thinking he deserves a thank you at the least, maybe even a kiss from the handsome mer. 

"/>

“Thank you,” the ginger says after Kylo has breached the surface. “Where on earth did you come from? I thought I was the only one here.”

What does he mean where did he come from? Kylo gestures down the river towards the ocean; where else would he have come from? There’s something weird about this merman. He doesn’t have any visible gills and his eyes are all wrong; not to mention he can speak human, something Kylo’s vocal cords won’t allow him to do. He cautiously puts a bit more space between them. 

“You swam up the river? I wasn’t aware there was another area like this one. I’ve never seen you here before.” Ocean green eyes look him over, the merman reaching out for him with a dull-fingered hand to poke his gills. “Nice details,” he says, quickly pulling his hand back when Kylo hisses and bares his teeth. 

What’s wrong with this one? All merpeople know it hurts to get poked in the gills. 

“Method, I see. Well, thank you for helping me out and I apologise for touching your gills. They really are very realistic.”

Kylo frowns, a shame that such a beautiful one is less charming than a hungry shark. It can’t be helped, he supposes, there’s no accounting for personality. 

“Would you like some water? I have a spare bottle.”  _ Water? _ Kylo looks around them, not getting the question. Why would he want water when he’s already in it? But the merman swims off without waiting for a reply. He pulls himself up onto the grassy bank to dig around in a bag, the action highlights another oddity. There’s a joint in his tail, like one big elbow and Kylo can’t fathom why it’s there. Something really isn’t adding up. 

Then the merman is waving a bottle at him with a raised brow, water sloshing around inside it. Kylo thinks it’s about time he leaves because this might be exactly the kind of thing his mother warned him about. 

Starting to fear for his own safety, Kylo glances around, looking for traps. The merman looks at him in return, his outstretched arm hesitating in its retreat, putting the bottle back into the bag. “No?” he asks, not seeming offended at the rejection of bottled water and Kylo keeping a safe distance between them. What convinces him that it’s time to go is the merman opening the bottle and eating the water because that just isn't normal.

Ducking back under the water he races down the river, using the flow to boost his speed until he safely emerges from its maw into the open ocean where he dives deeper into the dark. He barely skates by the small wreck he knows lies just off the coast, the one that gave him his beautiful rings that turn red and brittle with age. They're almost the same colour as that strange Merman’s hair. 

In little time he’s found his way back to the network of caves and corals that serve as their city, winding through the tunnels and into the main cave, the cenote filled with mers going about their lives. Their pod might not be the biggest, but many are drawn to the caves where the royal family has made their home. 

Rising to the surface, Kylo makes himself comfortable on one of the rock banks lining the edge to bask in the sunlight still streaming in from the holes in the ceiling. Thoughts occupied by that strange merman, Kylo runs his hands down his tail, feeling over the place where that odd joint had been, where his own tail curls smoothly under the length of jewels he wears wrapped around it. Their round shapes shine in the sun, a vibrant red emblazoned with white script in Human that he can’t read. He finds many of them near the places the land dwellers swim in the ocean. They must be dull to throw away such beautiful things. 

They come in other colours too, his collection has a lot of them; green, yellow, purple, blue, orange, even little silver, oblong ones with holes. He uses them to decorate everything, showing off that he’s fearless in pursuing human artifacts. He braids them into his hair and his shawl, twists them through cords, and threads them on string. The others carry such trophies as teeth and shells. In Kylo’s opinion they pale next to his collection that glitters in the water. Going near the humans will always trump fighting a shark because most of the time sharks don’t even want to fight; it’s the orcas that are assholes and this area is devoid of them. 

So yes, Kylo considers his human curiosities to be fitting for his station. 

The merman hadn’t had any decorations, a shame for someone that beautiful. The red of Kylo’s gems would look so vivid against the pale pink of his scales. Maybe if he dares to go back he can bring some as gifts? Hopefully it’ll appease the strange one and keep him from poking Kylo’s gills and offering strange things from an alternate universe. 

*******

Kylo does go back, cautiously creeping up the river to where he had met the solitary mer. In his hand there’s a pouch holding a collection of his finest gems. He’s even dressed himself up in his grand cape and put the shiniest hooks in his ears. Surely he’ll gain the mer’s favour when looking his best. 

_ He’s there, _ Kylo thinks with a giddy flip of his stomach. He's just as beautiful as he was the last time, his red hair flowing through the crystal clear water. He doesn’t dare approach directly, instead he swims up behind a boulder to watch from the shadows. 

More oddities appear as time passes.he merman rises to the surface with regular intervals and Kylo can’t help but wonder if it’s to do with the lack of gills. He’s never met a mer that can’t breathe underwater before. His eyes are all wrong too. Even from here he can tell they’re nothing like anyone in his pod; strangely light in colour where Kylo’s consist of greys and browns. It’s almost like he’s a different species altogether. 

_ Shit _ , he’s been spotted. Kylo quickly ducks behind the rock, gills working hard to give him enough oxygen to calm his racing heart. This is it, he’s done for, he never should have come back here. If only he’d listened to what everyone has been telling him. 

“What are you doing?" The voice is muffled by the water yet it still startles him. Looking up he finds the strange merman staring down at him from the surface, leaning over the boulder with a raised brow. He doesn’t look mad at least. 

Panicking a little Kylo rights himself, hurriedly shoving the pouch of gems at the mer before darting off behind the next boulder. It annoys him that of all the things in the ocean this pretty merman is the one that manages to intimidate him. 

Kylo watches from behind his new rock as the pretty one looks into the pouch and pulls out a few of the gems, his golden brows furrowed in confusion he glances over at Kylo. “Why are you giving me bottle caps?” 

If Kylo could speak his language he’d ask what bottle caps are.Since he can’t he gestures at the string of gems around his waist that perfectly compliment the netting of the cape. 

The pretty one hesitates before opening his mouth again, “Are you mute or in character?”

In character? What character would that be? As far as he knows he’s just Kylo, son of Leia and prince of their pod. Why would he be anyone else?

Muttering something to himself the mer puts the gems back in the pouch. “Thank you, for your gift,” he says at last, weighing it in his palm and making Kylo scared he gave him the wrong one. What if his pod doesn’t wear gems and jewels? He can’t fathom why, but he knows not all pods are the same. 

He’ll try something else next time, something less shiny. 

“Do you have a name? Mine is Armitage Hux.” What an odd name for a merman. 

Kylo doesn’t know how to communicate his own in a way that’ll be understood. He still tries, letting it carry through the water where the vibrations can be heard as opposed to over the air where the humans speak. 

Armitage Hux looks baffled and not at all like he’s understood what Kylo said. This is not a good thing. Coming back here had been stupid, but how could he resist when the most beautiful creature in the ocean is so close by? He would ask someone if they know of him but doing so would reveal he swims up the river and his mother will get mad. He’d rather Leia not be mad at him. 

So that means Armitage Hux is his secret. 

“Right, so I take it that means we don’t speak the same language, you are  _ the  _ most dedicated performer I’ve ever met and your tail is simply beautiful. May I ask who made it?” Who _ made  _ it? His mother did, Kylo supposes, she made all of him. Who else would have made it? “The details are simply exquisite, I’ve never seen one that looks so real.”

_ Real? _

Kylo really should go now because Armitage Hux is really beginning to scare him. There’s just something off about him, all those little things that don’t add up putting him just slightly out of focus. It’s both terrifying and fascinating. 

He doesn’t wait for Armitage Hux to spew more sinister questions, turning tail and racing back down the river. He’s sensing a pattern forming. 


	2. That’s Not Cool, Bro

It’s a long while before Kylo gets the notion to go back again. Sitting in the tide pool while Garra Rufa clean his tail, the little fish nibbling away at his dead scales until he’s shiny and smooth once more. It tickles delightfully, but what holds his attention is the mainland. Out there somewhere is Armitage Hux, his beautiful secret who asks terrifying questions. 

Kylo sinks lower into the pool, slipping under the surface to wet his gills. What if this time it goes wrong? His luck could run out and Armitage Hux could murder him.

There’s only one way to find out. 

Hauling himself out of the pool and dragging himself down the path of broad leaves laid out, Kylo slips back into the cool water of the ocean and heads for the mainland. Today he decides to pass by some of the reef, though he makes sure to keep away from the areas where the humans like to swim. 

The river is lazy today, the sky overcast and cloudy. Armitage Hux isn’t there.

Disappointed Kylo turns back home, heading for the reef again to look for more human treasures.They’re so careless with their things. 

Armitage Hux is here.

It’s the first time Kylo has seen the odd merman elsewhere, only this time he isn’t alone. He swims at the head of a pod of humans that he’s leading through the corals, pointing out things along the way. It’s the most insane thing Kylo has ever seen. Why would one of their own be interacting with land dwellers? The very breed of evil that nearly killed them all centuries ago. 

Maybe he’s held captive, forced to lead the humans around the beautiful reef so they can bring their poisonous ways into the water as well. The greedy fucks just can’t get enough, can they?

He should do something, but what? What can he do without putting his entire pod at risk?

For once in his life he stops to think before he does something he’d later realise was stupid.Instead he does something else that’s also stupid—he follows them. On the surface there’s the gentle disturbance of rain, a soft splashing that’s barely there, none of the humans seem to notice. Are they all deaf? How do they survive at all?

The longer he watches them, the more Kylo becomes convinced of the humans’ inferiority to ocean life. They can’t even breathe water, each of them carrying tubing and tanks on their backs, even his beautiful merman has one. What have they done to him? How have they taken away his ability to breathe freely? It’s cruel and disgusting, but it also means he couldn’t steal Armitage Hux away from them, he couldn’t survive with the rest of the pod. 

He follows until they stop near a boat, rising to the surface and climbing aboard one by one, even Armitage Hux. Kylo longs to follow and rescue him from the evil humans.He could even call for a whale to come tip the boat. No, he couldn't do that, it’s hardly deep enough for a whale to swim comfortably here, much less hurt the humans that can swim.

With a deep sigh he rises to the surface, hoping he can catch a glimpse of what they do to Armitage Hux when he's not in the water. If only he knew a little more then he could stage a proper rescue, the pretty merman will have to like him then. But what he sees isn't bloody or horrifying: Armitage Hux is just laying there, talking with the humans as if he's not their slave, though he's the only one who doesn't seem to mind the rain.

Not quite ready to give up on his mission for more information, Kylo keeps following and watches the humans disembark at the mainland and run for their strange land boats. Armitage Hux remains.This is his chance.

Lurching out of the water Kylo lands on the deck of the boat with a wet slap, coming face to face with Armitage Hux and a lone human who gapes at him as if he's the weird one. Then he sees it. The human is peeling Armitage Hux’s tail off! She is ripping the skin from his body. He knew the humans were evil but he never imagined something like this.

“What the fuck?” she says, glancing between him and Armitage Hux. She lets go of his tail. Kylo bares his teeth and hisses, dragging himself over the slick bottom of the boat and driving her away from his beautiful merman who doesn't seem much bothered by any of this.

“This is that strange actor I told you about,” Armitage Hux says to the woman, taking over from where she left off and continuing to peel his tail off, revealing smooth skin instead of flesh and bloody bones.

Kylo no longer knows who to be scared off and what to think.

“How did you get here?” He's talking to Kylo now, only briefly looking up from his effort to remove his tail.

He receives no answer for Kylo is frozen in place, his mind a flurry as he tries to make sense of what is going on when Armitage Hux is suddenly human, his beautiful tail pushed aside in a crumpled heap. How is it possible? He just doesn't understand.

Did he kill a mer and take their tail? Does he want to do that to Kylo? Skin him and wear what remains to show off in front of other humans?

Kylo feels sick. He glances at the tossed aside tail and gags, rushing to get back into the water so he can get far away from this disturbing scene. 

The farthest he gets is the shore a ways down where he heaves and retches until his last meal is splattered on the sand. A little further down from that he flops onto the ground, his skin still crawling with the horror of what he just saw. The humans are far worse than anything he ever could have imagined. To think they’d trap his kind, skin them, and wear their tails as if they were their own.Just the thought is enough to make him retch again, choking on bile that burns in his throat.

Is Kylo any better really? He’d thought Hux was beautiful, he’d wanted to court him. He’d tried to. He brought him a gift of his finest jewels. 

A sob catches in his throat. They were right, they were all fucking right, he never should have gone so close to the humans. He should have just stayed with the pod and kept to raiding the shipwrecks instead of letting his vanity almost lead to his own death. Suddenly the jewels decorating his tail feel like he's celebrating the land dwelling monsters, sharp reminders of what happened to the poor mer that tail belonged to. Sitting up he starts tearing at the strings, throwing entire lengths of precious gems as far away from himself as he can. When he gets back home he’ll throw them all out, every last one. He won’t touch a single human made thing ever again.

The rain keeps falling, washing away Kylo’s tears as he sobs and hiccoughs, belly cramping and heart aching for all the mers that have suffered this fate. He’s so caught up in his own grief that he doesn’t hear anyone approaching before a hand touches his shoulder. He knows for a fact that it’s no mer.

He swipes at them, shrieking, the noise that was intended to threaten and scare away sounding like a pathetic, scratchy wheeze above water where it can’t carry and resonate. The human is Armitage Hux, who is clutching at his arm where four scratches are seeping red. Kylo is as well as trapped here, there's no way he'd be able to get back in the water and escape before Armitage Hux can take his tail. He won’t go down without a fight, he might even win, kill this monster to avenge his fallen brothers and sisters.

Then he spots the tail sticking out from the bag Armitage Hux has slung over his shoulder and lets out a wail of despair, crying for the mer who lost their life so a human could pretend to be something they're not. What if he uses them to attract other mers? What if Kylo is his next target and he started swimming in that pool to hunt him? Make him fall in love and lull him into a false sense of security only to mutilate him.

He gags again. How could he have been so gullible?

“You’re real aren’t you?” Armitage Hux stares at him in shock and awe. “You're actually real.”

Kylo has the very distinct, ominous feeling that he’s about to be killed if he doesn’t get out of here right now. He glances between Armitage Hux, the mutilated tail, and the water that’s close enough to lap at his fluke but too shallow for him to get away as fast as he needs to. 

“You’re real and you think—” Suddenly Armitage Hux is throwing his bag down, it lands in the sand with a damp thud by his feet. “That’s not real,” he kneels to pull out some of the tail, “this isn’t real. It’s fake, made from silicon. It’s a costume that I perform in for other humans. Look.” He holds it out and Kylo flinches back.

He’s not so stupid he’ll fall for that again.

“I swear,” Armitage Hux insists, wiggling the fluke around and making Kylo retch again. How can he do something like that? Would he be so casual about his own kind being skinned and worn as costumes?

“It’s plastic, just like your bracelets. It was made for me and has never belonged to anyone else. Look.” He drags his fingers along the scales but none of them come loose or even move. “It doesn’t even have scales like you do.”

Next he turns it inside out, showing the smooth lining. “Here, feel it.” He tosses the empty skin towards him and Kylo scrambles back, hurriedly dragging himself towards the water. 

Why did he come here? He should have just kept swimming and gotten far away from Armitage Hux the moment he knew he wasn’t mer like him. 

Terrified he might be followed, Kylo doesn’t dare go home, diving deep into the swaying grass covering the sandy floor and curling up in the midst of it. He’ll be safe here. He’s never seen a human dive this deep. With the oppressive weight of grief in his chest he tears at the rest of his jewellery, throwing it aside to float away on the current. How could they? How could any living being be so cruel as to wear the skin of others as their own?

“The details are simply exquisite, I’ve never seen one that looks so real.”

Armitage Hux had said that the second time they met. At the time it had just been an odd thing to say, but now he knows; Kylo was lucky to get away. To think he could have ended up dead and mutilated in such a way because a human admired his tail. 

He can’t let Armitage Hux keep it.

What he has to do is go back and steal it so he can pay the poor mer the proper respect they deserve and bury what remains. It’s the only way. Besides, he’s the prince, it’s his duty to see to his people. Even his mother would approve of this mission, he’s sure of it. But telling her can wait until tomorrow after he’s done it.

Leaving his patch of seaweed behind, Kylo takes a roundabout way home, constantly checking that he’s not being followed before slipping through the cave entrance. He plasters on a fake smile for the mers he passes by on his way to his nest. No one here can know what he’s discovered about the land dwellers. It could cause a war, an uprising that will kill his people in the end when their weapons and illusions can’t hold up to the might of the humans.

He’s nearly there, salvation and a place to mourn in peace within reach when he’s sidelined by his mother, her delicate little hand coming to rest on his back. “Ben, what’s wrong?” she asks without further ado and Kylo hates that he can’t hide anything from her. “Where are your trinkets? You're always wearing those ridiculous human things.”

Just thinking about them makes him feel sick and Kylo fights not to gag. “Nothing’s wrong,” he insists, making an attempt to keep swimming. The hand on his back grows heavier.

“Ben.”

“It’s fine, I lost them. I have more.” Which he’ll be getting rid off as soon as he can.

She levels him with a searching look and Kylo automatically puts his shields up to spare her from seeing what he did today. “Don’t, you know I don’t like it when you do that.” Being the Queen she knows perfectly well that mers don’t use their magic on each other, much less invade their minds, even if it’s just a gentle request.

“I’m just worried about you, baby. I can tell when something is wrong.”

“So you invade my mind?” Doesn’t he get to have any privacy? “Just leave me alone.” This time when he swims away she doesn't stop him, and Kylo is grateful for the chance to be on his own until tomorrow.

Slipping into his nest, he settles on his bed of seaweed, unwilling to look at his collection of human trinkets. Have any of them been used against merpeople? How widespread is it? How many lives have been lost so the humans can play their sick little game and swim around in their skin, pretending to be more than they are? It makes his stomach churn and Kylo is sure he’ll never be able to eat again.

Curling up as tight as he can, he lets the grief flow freely, painful sobs wracking his body while he wishes he could go back in time and listen to all of those warnings. If he had he never would have known, he could have lived easier without this burden of a secret. But he didn't and now the fate of his people is resting on his shoulders.


	3. That's a Moray

Armitage Hux isn’t there when he returns to the spot upriver, no one is. He waits for what feels like an eternity; braiding, undoing, and re-braiding his hair so many times he loses count. And when that becomes boring he moves on to playing with the little fishes in the pool to try and distract himself from the reason he’s here. It doesn’t help. When the sun starts setting he returns home, defeated yet determined to get his hands on that tail and honour the fallen mer like they deserve.

He sleeps no easier that night than he did the previous one, tossing and turning in his nest, haunted by the artifacts decorating it.

The next morning Kylo is on his way back up the river long before anyone else in his pod is awake, paranoid that his mother would have someone follow him. The river water is warmer, the salt fading away the closer he gets to the mouth of it. Armitage Hux has to come today.

If he doesn’t, Kylo will keep returning until he does. There is no other option.

Every day for a week he goes back with no luck, spending his time in between waiting by clearing out his nest of everything human, horrified that those monsters can make such beautiful things.

It’s quiet in the pool, Kylo is bored of waiting and ready to give up if Armitage Hux doesn’t show his deceptive face today. Around him, little fish swim in the current and the plants at the bottom sway softly. It’s peaceful, exactly why he started to come here in the first place.

That peace is shattered in the blink of an eye when Kylo spots movement on the shore; he's here. Heart jumping into his throat and gut twisting with nerves, he spells an illusion and darts over to the little dock, waiting and watching for the right moment.

Above the water Armitage Hux is looking around, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. He’s standing upright on his legs, the bag holding the butchered tail hanging from his shoulder, the ends of the fluke sticking out of the top. This is it, the moment Kylo has been waiting for, and he’s terrified. What if it all goes wrong?

No.

He can’t think like that. He’s a prince, heir to the throne and a beacon of strength for his people. This is why he trained with the hunters so he could fight as well as them. This is why he has claws and his teeth are sharp. This is his time to use them.

Furrowing his brow and taking a deep breath, he waits for Armitage Hux to lower the bag.

Bursting out of the water he bares his teeth, hissing in clear warning while he snatches the bag and pulls it into the water with him. He dives as deep as he can into the river and darts behind one of the boulders. Tearing the bag apart, he pulls out the tail and immediately notices something’s wrong. 

The skin is all weird, the scales are sticking together, and it smells funny too. Armitage Hux said it wasn’t real, maybe he wasn’t lying?

Fighting back the urge to gag, Kylo reaches into the tail, feeling along the smooth insides for any ridges and imperfections only to find none. The entire thing is smooth and off-white, soft but firm enough to not come apart. It’s almost like an imitation, both the inside and out are too weird and unlike anything he’s ever felt. Is it really possible that Armitage Hux was telling the truth?

It’s stretchy too. Kylo wiggles his way a little deeper to see what’s inside, and promptly gets stuck. 

Panic overtakes him when he can’t get back out, the weird material strangely sticky against his skin. He cries out, barely noticing movement in the water near him before there’s a hand on his back. 

It’s a trap! It’s a trap! 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/166100947@N08/50749996541/in/dateposted-public/)

This is how he dies, he’s sure of it. Lashing out blindly with his tail, he feels it come in contact with something. The hand briefly disappears from his back. “Stay still, I’m trying to help!” A voice carries down from the surface and Kylo recognises it as belonging to Armitage Hux. 

If he were a squid Kylo would be inking the water. 

Despite his struggling, Armitage Hux manages to pull the fake tail off of him, the restrictive tube of weird skin leaving Kylo feeling like he’s in need of a thorough cleanse in the tide pools. 

“Are you alright?”

Kylo bares his teeth, eyes drawn to Armitage Hux’s legs that are treading the water while he’s looking down on Kylo. Deciding to leave the tail behind for now, Kylo makes a swift escape down stream, not daring to stay any longer. 

Armitage Hux doesn’t follow. 

He needs a new plan, a way to confirm if the tail is real or not. It hadn’t felt or looked that real up close but there’s still a chance Armitage Hux somehow made a copy or altered one to last. Magic should be able to tell, but he’d need more time with it to properly sense any past life. Who knows what kind of magic the humans might possess?

No living mer has ever been close enough to know.

In that moment Kylo decides he’ll be the first. Someone has to do it, and so far Armitage Hux hasn’t been hostile. He could watch him from afar, observe and learn about the land dwellers’ strange ways. There has to be a reason behind their madness, no living thing is inherently evil. That’s what Kylo believes anyway. 

Not feeling in the mood to go back to his nest, Kylo instead heads for the tide pools with the intention of having his skin cleaned after being inside that tail. He still feels tacky and itchy just thinking about it. 

On the surface the weather is good, the sun shining brightly above. Grabbing onto the rocks, Kylo hauls himself out of the water, pulling himself along the smooth, leaf lined path worn into the stone from mers passing over on their way to the pools. When he finally slides into the sun warmed water he’s soon welcomed by little nibbles on his tail, Garra Rufa swarming him to do their job. 

Alas, not even the friendly little fish can distract his mind away from humans and their barbaric ways. 

“What’s up?” Intruding on his sulking, Rey comes splashing into the tide pool, hip fin smacking him in the face while the Garra Rufa scatter in the commotion. “Mum says you’ve been in a mood for days.”

“Fuck off, Rey.” If their mother is sending Rey after him then she’s pretty worried. His sister usually acts as a last resort for communication between them. A blunt tool if there ever was one.

“Oh boo hoo, so who was it?” At the no doubt painfully obvious fear on his face, Rey sinks her claws in, ready to drag the gossip out of him no matter what it takes. “So there is someone? Are they in another pod?”

Kylo frowns, shaking his head, and belatedly realises he should have just agreed so his sister won’t get any other ideas.

“It’s a human, isn't it?”

“What? No! Don’t be stupid, Rey,” Kylo protests, perhaps a bit too vehemently.

“Poseidon’s armpits! Kylo, you really are dumb.” She slaps him, sending the fish that’s just regathered scattering again. “A human?” The appalled look on her face says it all.

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what’s it like, stupid?”

“I can’t tell you.” Rey doesn’t need to know. She deserves to stay ignorant of the foul things humans are capable of. Especially now that Kylo is doubting what he saw with his own two eyes, fearing that he’d been quick to judge Armitage Hux. He needs more evidence to say for sure and enough time alone with the tail to confirm if it’s real or not.

He has to steal it again, only this time he needs to go further and hide better. 

*******

It takes him a few days to regain his courage and return to the river. Three days he explains away as waiting for Rey to stop following him everywhere he goes, a weak excuse. But now he’s ready to face his fears once more, so he makes his way up the cold river water that feels so bland from its lack of salt. 

Peeking above the water, he can see Armitage Hux just sitting there on the riverbank not doing anything at all. Maybe he’s lying in wait for Kylo to show himself so he can kill him, though he doesn’t seem to be prepared for anything like that. Next to him are two tails, the other one is sunshine yellow and burnished orange, it looks like a sunset on scales. Seeing it breaks Kylo’s heart; one wasn’t enough?

Distracted by the resurgence of his grief, Kylo doesn’t notice Armitage Hux’s eyes on him before he moves, picking up the yellow tail and throwing it out into the water. 

“Here, explore all you like. I promise it isn’t real,” he says, sitting back down in the grass and showing no signs of planning an attack. 

Kylo still worries; what if it’s a trap? Is he going to swim away from this if he touches the tail that’s slowly sinking, only the fluke staying on the surface? 

Carefully he reaches for it, poking the fleshy material a few times to see if anything happens. When nothing does, Kylo snatches it up, pulling it a good way down the river to where he can crawl onto a grassy bank. 

Just like the pink one, the scales are all stuck together and weirdly solid. The tail is more like an imitation of one. It isn’t even smooth.

The more Kylo looks at it and touches the weird material, he becomes more and more confident that it isn’t real. Comparing it to his own it becomes even more obvious. Maybe Armitage Hux wishes he was a mer like him badly enough to imitate them? 

Humans are absurd. 

But the evidence is right here next to him and if he closes his eyes and tries to feel for any sign of anything at all he finds nothing. Doing like he did the last time, he looks inside it, feeling along the smooth surface until he finds a seam that he unthinkingly follows deeper to see how far it reaches. 

This tail is weird and tacky on the inside too, the fake skin sticking to his and before he knows it he’s stuck again. Shrieking in alarm, he flops about on the sandy bank, scratching at the inside of it in a desperate fight to get out. Why would Armitage Hux want to wear something like this?

“Are you going to do this every time?”

He’s never going to touch any of these things ever again. 

“Sit still, you bloody idiot!” Armitage Hux yells at him even though he’s not supposed to be here.

Maybe this really was a trap all along and the human followed him to watch him suffocate inside of this awful thing?

“I can’t get it off if you won’t stop squirming!”

Crying out in fear, Kylo keeps struggling, certain that this is going to be the end of him. He never should have come back here, what was he thinking?

“I’m not trying to hurt you, for fuck's sake.”

There’s a hand on his back and for the first time Kylo notices how warm humans are, Armitage Hux heating the spot he’s touching like a beam of sunlight. He lays very still. Maybe if he plays dead the human will lose interest?

With that thought in mind, Kylo goes limp. Armitage Hux makes a noise of relief above him. If only he could see then he could at least bite to defend himself. The tail is a smart trap; all his sharp bits contained in this weird bag. The hand on his back moves, the human peeling the tail back off him and tossing it aside. Kylo stays limp. 

“Are you alright?” Oddly enough there’s concern in the human’s voice when he speaks to him. He must be stupid if he hasn’t realised Kylo can’t respond by now. “Hello?” Something nudges him in the side. “Oh lord, please tell me you’re not dead.”

Suddenly he’s being rolled over into his back, the human patting his cheeks and feeling around under his jaw while Kylo stubbornly remains motionless, unsure of where to go from here. Armitage Hux appears to find what he’s looking for, breathing a sigh of relief while pressing two of his fingers into Kylo’s neck. 

“If you’re not dead what are you doing? Can you breathe?” Armitage Hux is touching his gills again but this time he’s gentle, cupping a hand over them for no apparent reason. “Are—are you  _ playing dead?” _

The incredulous tone of voice is almost enough to make Kylo crack a smile. Instead he does what no mer has done before and attempts to reach Armitage Hux’s mind to see what he’s feeling. It’s different than with others of his kind; human minds are weird, but Armitage Hux is clearly in awe from the way his aura feels. Curious hands are taking advantage of Kylo lying prone in the grass, smoothing over his skin and down to his tail. 

It’s weird being touched like this. Kylo is nearly content to let Armitage Hux explore his body while Kylo explores his mind.  _ Almost _ . All he needs is an opportunity to get back in the water so they’re on even ground. The only other option over waiting is to take it into his own hands and bite, but part of him doesn’t want to hurt the beautiful human. 

But then Armitage Hux touches him  _ there,  _ triggering an instant reaction from Kylo where he shrieks in protest and uses his tail to strike the human away from him. The audacity!

Are all humans this rude?

How dare he touch a prince in that spot!

Landing on his back, Armitage Hux gasps for air, seemingly incapacitated for the moment. Taking the opportunity provided, Kylo drags himself back into the water and hisses at him, sinking low enough to hide his burning face. No one has ever touched him there before and he’s going to keep it that way until he finds the right mer. How rude of Armitage Hux to assume he could have that part of him.

The human sits up and pounds at his chest while he coughs and gasps for air. “You could have said ’no’,” he wheezes. Kylo only feels a little bit sorry because Hux did violate his  _ “no no square”, _ as his mom used to call it when he was growing up. 

Childishly he sticks his tongue out at the human, expecting offence but getting a little smile instead. A stupidly charming smile that shows Armitage Hux’s dumb, flat human teeth that are probably useless. How would he tear apart fish with those?

“You really are something, you know that? What’s your name?” Entirely fearless, he moves closer to the water where Kylo could easily drag him down and drown him. How humans ever came to rule the land Kylo will never understand. 

Kylo glares.

The human points at himself. “Armitage,” he says slowly as if Kylo is stupid. Then he points at Kylo with a raised brow.

Upon not getting a reply he does it a few more times, pointing back and forth between them, much to Kylo’s amusement. “Do you even have a name?”

Giving up very easily, Armitage Hux sits down in the grass with a wry smile, making a few gestures with his hands that Kylo thinks are supposed to mean something. If this experiment is going to work they need to find a way to communicate. 

Kylo only knows one mer with that kind of magic and he was shunned from the pod long before he was born; Snoke. He’ll have to go see Snoke. No one wants to go see Snoke. 

He looks at Armitage Hux, who is still gesturing, and returns with the only human one he knows and flaps his hand at him before ducking back under and swimming away, only this time when he reaches the wreck he goes left. 

It’s so dark way down in the depths where Snoke has made his home; the decrepit, old eel preferring to lurk in the shadows of his cave. Kylo has never been down here before but the sorcerer is easy to find from the magnitude of his aura alone. A cave full of glowing coral beckons him into its maw with the promise of anything he could ever want. 

The deeper the cave goes the more Kylo feels watched, thousands of eyes following his every move from all around. If he stops he’ll be dragged down to the sandy floor of the cave and devoured by what lurks there. 

_ “Ah, you’re finally here,”  _ a voice croaks at him from the darkness, the tunnel ending at a cavernous room that’s too dark to see the end off, leaving Kylo vulnerable at the mouth of the cave.  _ “Did my friends frighten you?” _

“No.”  _ What friends? _ Kylo looks back over his shoulder, not wanting to know what truly resides in the dark. 

A wan light spreads through the water, growing to an eerie glow that reflects off the jagged rock making up the walls around him and the smooth skin of the biggest eel he's ever seen. Snoke’s body is massive, coiling all the way around the room. His head emerges from the shadows with a fanged smirk. _ “Don’t lie to me, Kylo Ren.” _ The voice growls, the eel’s jaw opening to show the rows of jagged teeth reaching far back. 

Kylo doesn’t reply, looking over the deep run in the eel’s skull, collapsed and rotting with age. No wonder Snoke isn’t welcome with his pod if he looks like he’s been run over by a ship a few times too many. In some ways Kylo even pities him. 

_ “Keep your pity, little one, tell me what you seek.”  _ Snoke’s presence in his head feels slick, revolting in the way his voice slithers over Kylo’s consciousness. 

“I want to talk to a human.” The faster they can get this over with the faster he can leave this unsettling place. 

_ “A human? My, my, my, what would the Queen say?”  _ Snoke comes closer, tilting his massive head to the side to peer down at Kylo with a beady eye that pierces right through him. He knows exactly who has come to see him and it feels violating. 

“Yes, I want to learn about them.” Kylo stands his ground. It shouldn’t matter why, all he needs is for this gargantuan creep to give him what he came for, not to bring up his mother and everything else he knows. 

_ “Hmm, I can give you what you seek, but everything has a price.” _ Maybe this won’t be so easy after all.  _ “I’ll give you seven suns, after which you will bring him to me.”  _

Before today Kylo didn’t know eels could smirk. He doesn’t like it, not one bit. 

“Why?” What use could Snoke have for a human?

Kylo is not proud of the pitch of his scream when something brushes by his arm, making him whip around to peer at the glint of gold in the darkness. 

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/166100947@N08/50742633307/in/dateposted-public/)

_ “As long as he wears this you will have access to the human’s mind.”  _ Snoke moves with him, the eel is slow because of his size and the decay that eats his flesh.  _ “Bring him to me,”  _ Snoke repeats, pulling back into the dark abyss from which he came. 

Clutching the golden bracelet, Kylo darts back to the tunnel, keeping his eyes ahead while cries of despair echo from below. Tomorrow he’ll go back to the river and give Armitage Hux the trinket, then he can learn about the humans and their barbaric ways. 

*******

Safely hidden away in his nest, Kylo looks at the shining bracelet. Maybe Armitage Hux will like it better than the human jewels Kylo brought him? He hadn’t seemed to care much for them since he hasn’t worn them yet. It could be that humans don’t like to wear pretty things, but that would be silly. Who doesn’t like being pretty?

The bracelet is pretty. It’s like something his mother would wear, elegant. It will look good on Armitage Hux’s wrist. 

How odd that a human wants to be like them. How odd that Kylo still likes him after everything. 

Would Snoke like him? Probably. 

Smiling, he nestles down into his bed of seaweed and grass, the bracelet shining from the little outcrop of rock he hid it on so no one would see it. Tomorrow everything is going to change. 


	4. What Are Those?

Like the day before Armitage Hux is just sitting there on the dock, dangling his legs into the water. Kylo peers at the strange appendages from afar, wondering how anyone could survive with something so useless. No wonder they need to wear fake fins to swim. Living on land must be awful if you have to carry your own body everywhere. 

Peeking above the water, Kylo makes double sure that it is indeed Armitage Hux sitting there and not some other brightly coloured human. Happy that it’s his human, Kylo slips back under to swim up to his stubby fins and pinch one of the bulbs sticking out of them. Armitage Hux squeals and yanks his legs out of the water before looking down at Kylo who smiles up at him. 

“It’s you, hello!” The bright expression on the human’s face makes Kylo feel good, a strange fluttering tickling his stomach. Armitage Hux seems to be happy to see him too. 

Retreating to a safe distance from the bank, Kylo tosses him the bracelet, then mimes the motion of putting it on. 

Armitage Hux picks it up, turning it over in his hands a few times. “You want me to wear it?”

_ Why is he still talking? _ Kylo rolls his eyes, taking off one of his own bracelets and putting it back on. Humans are so stupid. 

Finally he gets it, slipping the gold bracelet around his wrist. Immediately it hums with magic. Kylo perks up when Armitage Hux’s mind suddenly becomes clear to him. 

_ “Do you want to skin me and wear my tail?”  _ Is the first thing he asks. The human recoils and frantically looks around himself for the source of the voice. 

“Who said that?”

_ “I did. Humans are so stupid.”  _ Kylo pouts, splashing some water at Armitage Hux to get his attention again. 

Armitage Hux turns to face him, staring at him with huge eyes full of fear. “Am I going insane? How are you in my head?” Slowly connecting the dots, he looks down at the bracelet on his wrist. “You can do magic?”

Kylo scoffs. Why can’t Armitage Hux just answer his question first?  _ “Snoke made it.”  _ There, now he can find out once and for all what the human’s intentions are. 

“Who’s Snoke? How are you in my head? Are you going to drown me?” Armitage Hux rattles off question after question, coming right down to the water even though he thought Kylo might kill him. How silly.

_ “I thought you were going to kill me.” _

Finally the human comes to a stop, staring at Kylo where he’s bobbing a few feet out. “Kill you? Why the bloody hell would I do that?” Armitage Hux screeches, gesturing at him. “I told you the tail is fake. It's just a costume for performing in so I can earn money. I didn’t even know mermaids were real before I met you.”

A costume? Just a costume? Do humans think the mer are just silly objects for entertainment? Frowning, Kylo flicks his tail, sending a spray of water towards the human. Serves him right. 

Armitage Hux frowns, wiping off his face. “What?”

_ “Do all humans make fun of us, Armitage Hux?”  _

“No, quite the opposite. Humans love stories about mermaids, especially the children,” he explains. Kylo isn’t sure what to believe anymore. This is a lot more confusing than he thought it would be. Maybe that’s why Snoke wanted him to bring Hux, so he could translate. “And it’s just Armitage, Hux is my last name.”

_ “Last name? What’s that?”  _ Probably a weird human custom. 

“It’s a family name. What’s yours?”

_ “Kylo.”  _ Why would he need a family name when everyone knows who he is?  _ “I’m the Prince.” _

“The Prince?” Armitage repeats dumbly. 

_ “Obviously.”  _ Maybe humans don’t have royalty so he wouldn’t recognise it when he sees it. 

Moving closer until he’s standing in the shallow water before the drop into the river, Armitage sits down, watching Kylo with big eyes. “How many of you are there?” He stretches out his legs. Kylo stares at his weird fins. 

_ “Many.”  _ Pursing his lips he reaches out to pinch the biggest bulb on Armitage’s stubby fins, startling when the human jumps.  _ “Do all humans have these?” _

Armitage laughs, a light sound that makes Kylo’s stomach flutter. “Yes, they’re called toes, they help us stay upright.” How stupid.

_ “Then why can’t humans just stay on land?”  _ Why do they have to come into the ocean and invade their territories? Like all young mers, Kylo has heard about the days when they didn’t need to hide behind illusions, when they could roam free and the humans mostly stayed on land. Back then it was safe. Now he’s being warned about exploring a river far from any human settlements. His ancestors would never have needed to worry like that.

“I suppose some of us like the ocean too much and want to know everything that’s down there.” Isn’t the land big enough? Humans really are greedy. 

_ “We have to hide from you.”  _ He's not even supposed to be here, not that he could tell anyone to begin with. Snoke is the only one who knows and only because Kylo couldn’t do this without him.  _ “I don’t want to hide, it’s not fair,”  _ he pouts, moving a little closer to Armitage again, sure that the human won’t hurt him. 

Armitage looks sad too, probably realising his human greed and what it’s done to decimate Kylo’s people. “I’m sorry.”

They fall into silence, listening to the call of the birds that Kylo has always found fascinating. He likes pulling their little fins when they float on the water, even if it does get him nipped sometimes. They look too funny to leave alone. 

Spying the pink tail Armitage uses to swim, an idea starts to form in Kylo’s head. Maybe if he showed Armitage parts of their world he could tell the other humans to leave them alone!

_ “Do you want to swim with me?”  _

Armitage looks back on his tail too before nodding and reaching for the bag. Kylo can't help but shudder when he pulls it out. It’s still so weird watching the human pull the fake skin on, completely hiding his human legs. “You’ll have to be patient with me as I probably can’t swim as fast as you,” Armitage says, scooting himself into the water. 

He also doesn’t have gills, Kylo has to remind himself before ducking under the water and moving down river, letting the current propel him forward. When he reaches the mouth he waits for Armitage to catch up, the human arriving a few minutes behind him; from here on out they’ll have to swim together. The ocean is a big place to get lost in. 

Not wanting to wait for Armitage, Kylo grabs his arm and starts towing him along, ducking under the surface to show him the small wreck just a little ways off from the shore. It’s been picked clean by now, nothing valuable left on it, but it serves as his marker for where the river is so he figures Armitage should know that too. 

_ “This is how I find the river.”  _ He points it out, peering through the crack in the hull where there’s nothing but sand inside. 

_ “And if you go this way you get to the reef.”  _ He's just begun to pull Armitage along again when the human tugs on his arm, gesturing at his neck then up at the surface. 

Oh right, no gills.

When they breach the surface Armitage gasps, sucking in deep breaths. Maybe Snoke could help with this too. It would be so much easier if Armitage could stay under longer. 

Snoke will know for sure. 

Waiting for Armitage to catch his breath, Kylo swims a few circles around him, dipping below the surface to wet his gills before coming back up to check on the human. “ _ Can we go to the blue reef now?”  _ he asks when Armitage looks at ease, barely waiting for a confirmation before grabbing hold of his wrist and pulling him along. 

This time he makes sure to bring them to the surface regularly so Armitage can breathe. It must be annoying having to do that all the time when you want to be a mer. Not having gills is stupid but it’s the only thing that’s kept the humans from invading their space further than they’re able with their strange underwater boats. 

On their last break for Armitage to breathe, Kylo dives to explore the reef below them. He’s been here many times before and there’s always something new to discover. Today there are a few human gems that must have fallen from boats. 

Pleased with his treasure, he brings it up to Armitage who’s lips turn down at the corners.

_ “You don’t like them?”  _ Kylo pouts, trying not to look too dejected. He’ll just find other ones, there has to be something Armitage will like that’ll make him feel pretty.

“No, it’s not that. These shouldn’t be out here,” he says. 

_ “Then stop losing your jewels in the water.”  _ How is it bad if he gains from it? The humans obviously don’t care that much since they’re always losing them.

“These are trash, not jewels. People throw them away because they’re lazy. They hurt the ocean.” 

What?  _ “Why would they do that?” _ If the humans love the ocean so much, why would they throw trash in it?

“Most people don’t care.” 

_ “But they’re so pretty?”  _ How can they be trash when they shine in the sun and come in so many beautiful colours. Has it been hurting the pod that he’s been bringing them home?

Armitage smiles sadly, brushing a strand of Kylo’s hair from his forehead. “I’m sorry, love. Let’s go gather the rest and I’ll take them away.”

Kylo nods, diving back under to show Armitage the colourful reef and to pick up all the other human things they can find. Now that he knows, they suddenly don’t seem that fun. He’d thought that maybe he could still keep wearing them after finding out that the humans aren’t as evil as he thought, but now? 

It’s a different kind of evil but evil all the same. 

He’ll just have to settle for what the other merpeople wear, boring as it is. 

While gathering the trash, Kylo makes sure to watch Hux swim. He has a long way to go before he can become like one of them; his hair is so short and the movement of his tail is exaggerated, but he makes up for it with his stunning beauty. Humans shouldn't be allowed to be that beautiful. 

It takes them a long time to gather two armfuls of trash, as much as they’re able to carry, and bring it back to shore. In some ways it feels good putting it all back on land where it belongs, but it’s also sad having to say goodbye to the things he’s loved to collect his entire life, what’s made him stand out more than his title ever could. 

“I’m sorry you didn’t know. I remember you wearing them the first few times we met. You looked very handsome.” Armitage thinks he’s pretty?

His dour mood is washed away in an instant, Kylo lights up with a broad smile, crawling onto the sandy little beach they’ve come to a rest at. Armitage can’t possibly be a bad human if he thinks Kylo is pretty. 

Splashing his tail in the water, Kylo draws a few squiggles in the sand.  _ “I think you’re pretty too.”  _

Something new happens then that Kylo has never seen before; Armitage turns red. He didn’t know humans could change colours! What if that’s a bad thing…

Shuffling a little closer, Kylo peers into Armitage’s face, squinting.  _ “Why are you red?”  _

“The sun. I’m red because of the sun.” Armitage smiles but it looks awkward, leaving Kylo unsatisfied with the answer. 

_ “No you’re not.”  _ Kylo has definitely never turned red from the sun.  _ “Are you sick?”  _

Armitage huffs, shaking his head. “No, Kylo. I’m fine, I promise.”

Well ok then, if Armitage doesn’t want to tell him that’s fine. Totally and completely fine. Kylo can live without knowing why humans sometimes change colour. It’s probably not important to his research. Right?

Kylo pouts, drawing a few lines in the sand. 

No, he needs to know. 

_ “Why do you change colour? Is it camouflage?”  _ Like the fish and squid that blend with the bottom of the ocean.  _ “Do you do it a lot? Is it painful? Why just your face?”  _

Lifting himself up he puts his face right near Armitage’s, close enough to feel steady puffs of air brush by him. Do… do humans breathe through their face? 

Not thinking twice about the sand on his fingers, Kylo pries Armitage’s mouth open, squinting at his useless, flat teeth. The more he learns, the more confused he gets, nothing has made any kind of sense so far. If humans love the ocean, then why do they dump trash in it? Why do they change colour? What do they eat with their dumb teeth? 

They don’t even have claws!

Hoping his trust isn’t misplaced, Kylo puts his finger further in, poking at the moist tongue that’s pretty similar to his own. At least that’s one thing he won’t have to study, but there is a weird dangly bit at the back of Armitage’s throat that he wants to poke to see what’ll happen. 

He chokes, that’s what happens. Armitage pushes his hand away to cough and spit out the sand that Kylo left on his tongue. “Don’t do that.”

_ “What do humans eat?”  _ Kylo asks, not missing a step.

“A little bit of everything.”

_ “Like what?” _

*******

It goes better than Kylo could have hoped. Armitage Hux answering all his questions while letting Kylo poke and prod at his body, seemingly not having a no no square anywhere. Or maybe humans just see it differently and don’t mind. How absurd to think they would be out there breeding all willy nilly; no wonder there are that many of them. Billions, whatever that means. 

Armitage says it’s a lot and it must be because he’s the only human Kylo has seen more than once. Maybe it’s too much to hope that he could change the minds of the other humans. 

Still, one is better than none.

Now he just needs to convince Snoke to help Armitage breathe underwater so Kylo can show him the deeper reefs. He could even bring him here to meet the rest of the pod. It would be a risk he can’t take until he’s sure the human won’t turn against them, but he can only imagine the new relationship it could grow between them if it goes well. Humans and merpeople living side by side, Kylo can almost imagine it.

Reaching for his comb, he quickly detangles his long hair and decorates it with the pearl crown his mother always complains about him not wearing enough when he’s out and about. Something about the pod needing to respect him as royalty. Personally Kylo finds the cluster of pearls and shells to be boring. It has no colour at all and they could have at least put some pink and black pearls in it. But now that he knows his human jewels are trash this is all he has to wear. 

He should explore some of the deeper wrecks to see if he can find interesting things to bring Armitage. Maybe he’ll find actual human jewellery!

Hopefully that isn’t as boring as mer jewellery. He can imagine that if humans can make those pretty bottle caps then they can make jewellery that’s just as colourful. 

Leaving his nest with a more positive outlook on the day, Kylo hurries through the caves so he won’t be stopped by anyone, taking a slight detour when he spots Rey. As soon as he’s free of the caves he dives deeper, following the path that’ll take him to Snoke’s lair. 

It’s no less scary this time, that same feeling of being watched following his every move through the tunnel. It feels almost like a warning, one that he chooses not to heed because he needs Snoke’s help to get closer to Armitage. 

“You’ve returned,” Snoke’s voice greets him, the massive eel emerging from the darkness to loom above him. “And without the human.”

Kylo might be wrong but he’s getting the vibe that Snoke isn’t that happy today. Maybe he should come back tomorrow when he’s less grumpy. 

“He can’t get this deep, I need something so he can breathe underwater,” Kylo says hopefully, looking up at the sorcerer. 

“I told you to bring. Him. Here!” Snoke roars, the volume of it making Kylo’s head hurt. 

“He can’t get this deep!” Kylo shouts back. He really should have waited until tomorrow to do this. If he could do that kind of magic himself he would, but that just isn’t in his skill set. 

This time the object comes hurtling at him, hitting him in the forehead.  _ Please don’t bruise.  _ It’s another plain bracelet like the one before, ugly really. 

Hux didn’t seem to mind. 

“BRING HIM TO ME!”

“Fine!” Just for that Kylo isn’t bringing Armitage anywhere near here for a good long while. 

Taking the ugly bracelet, Kylo leaves the creepy old eel behind, keeping his eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel so as not to be tempted to look down. He still does, right at the mouth of the cave, heart skipping when he sees eyes looking back up at him.

A weak voice whispers pleadingly,  _ “Help me.” _

Sufficiently creeped out, Kylo swims away as fast as he can, putting distance between himself and whatever the fuck that was, not slowing down until he can no longer feel the dark pull of the cave. He’s starting to think he should have listened to what everyone is saying about Snoke, but if it wasn’t for him Kylo would never have been able to communicate with Armitage.

Shaking off the unpleasant feeling of the deep, Kylo swims towards the shore, gathering some human debris along the way to the river where he usually finds the human. Today he’s not there, leaving Kylo to frown at the empty riverbank. Did Armitage forget about him? He’d thought they'd had a good time yesterday.

No, this is probably Snoke’s fault. What a jealous old bastard.

His mood soured, Kylo swims back down the river, returning to the blue reef to play with the sharks; they always keep him company, happily turning over to have their bellies rubbed. Why the other mers don't like them he’ll never understand. They’re all so kind and friendly, even the big ones. Hunting them for their teeth is just cruel when they’ll happily come for help with loose ones.

That’s how Kylo got all of his shark teeth.

He’s been trained to fight and kill along with the rest of the pod, their need to defend themselves only growing with the human threat. Kylo has never once used those skills, unlike the others who think it a status symbol to murder innocent sharks for their teeth when they could just ask politely. 


	5. The No No Square

He doesn’t see Armitage for three days, checking the riverbank several times until suddenly he’s there, emerging from the big plants he says are called trees. The bag he’s carrying looks heavy today but his tail is nowhere in sight.

Right away Kylo is hesitant.  _ “What’s that?” _ He points at the heavy bag that Armitage sets down in the grass. 

“I brought you some human things I thought you might like.” Armitage smiles, showing off his flat teeth. 

_ “Human things? Are they pretty things?”  _ What fun is there if they’re not pretty?

“Some of them are, but I brought you some picture books so you can see more of what’s on land.” Reaching into the bag, Armitage takes out a big, flat square that he holds up to show Kylo, who squints at the brightly coloured figures on the front of it. 

_ “What’s that?”  _ Carefully he reaches out to tap on the hard surface, relaxing when nothing jumps out at him. 

“It’s a book about animals,” Armitage says, patting the ground next to him. 

Interest piqued, Kylo drags himself up next to the human to watch him open the square to reveal another drawing, this time of only one creature. That must be a land animal. 

“The cow goes 'moo',” he reads, pressing a little square that makes a loud noise that has Kylo scrambling back with a hiss while Armitage laughs. “It’s just the book, Kylo. That’s the noise a cow makes, see?” He turns a stiff sheet to reveal another image, this one of something white and fluffy like a cloud on legs. 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/166100947@N08/50742633147/in/dateposted-public/)

“The sheep goes 'baa'.” Pressing another little square, the book makes a baa noise in response. 

_ “Is it alive?”  _ If it makes noises it has to be, right? Dead things don’t make sounds like that. 

“No.” With an infectious grin on his face, Armitage makes the book make the same noise a few more times. “It’s just a recording. Books are made from trees.”

_ “How?”  _ It doesn’t look like wood, and if he scratches it with his claws it doesn’t chip or splinter. It just leaves a groove in the thick material. 

*******

If he had at any point in his life believed mermaids to be real before he met Kylo, Hux never would have imagined them to be like the curious, air-headed prince who gave him bottle caps as a gift. Though for all he knows Kylo could be unique in that way. It isn’t like he has anything to compare him to, but he never imagined he’d be giving a very pretty merman a vague explanation of how paper is made. 

Then watch him almost cry because,  _ ‘cats make a scary noise’. _

Hux isn’t entirely sure if the book had been a good idea or not, but he had thought it to be more interesting than one with just pictures and words that wouldn’t be much use to a fish. He doesn’t know how the bracelet Kylo gave him functions but he doubts it works on books. That’s if Kylo can read at all. 

It’s unlikely. 

“I brought you some other things too,” he says as he puts away the book and goes fishing for the plastic costume jewellery he brought. Putting more plastic in the ocean isn’t the best of ideas but Kylo doesn’t seem like he’d use it to feed the sea life. 

_ “There’s more?”  _ Kylo’s words fill his head, a strange sensation if there ever was one. 

“Yes, I brought you some jewellery.” Hux takes out the boxed set and hands it to the eager merman, who’s nearly crawling into his lap in his haste to get it. 

As cheap and basic as it is, Kylo oohs and aahs over it, turning it this way and that to watch the sun bounce off the brightly-coloured plastic.  _ “It’s so pretty!” _ Success!  _ “Is this what humans wear?” _

“Some. I can get you more if you like?” It’s not like he can’t afford some cheap bling for a literal prince to wear, though he thanks his lucky stars that Kylo is a cheap date. He wouldn’t be able to afford diamonds and gold if that’s what he preferred. 

_ “Really?”  _ The excitement on Kylo’s face makes it all worth it, his nearly black eyes lighting up with so much joy at the prospect of more colourful plastic.  _ “Human jewellery is so much prettier than ours. My crown only has pearls.”  _ He pouts, looking every bit the spoiled royalty he is. 

_ Only  _ pearls, if Kylo had any idea how much those are worth on land he’d probably be singing a different tune. 

_ “What else did you bring?” _ And just like that, his attention is drawn to something else, Clawed hands dive into Hux’s bag to dig around, coming back out with his bag of salt and vinegar crisps. He shakes it.  _ “What’s this?” _

“That’s my lunch. Would you like to taste it?” he asks, well aware that he won’t get away with having it to himself now that Kylo has caught wind of it.

_ “How do you eat it?” _ Kylo shakes the bag some more, then pokes at it with his claws until it pops, at which point he tears it in half and empties the contents out on the grass. So much for Hux getting any.

Picking up one single flaky chip, Kylo inspects it, even rolling over on Hux’s lap to hold it up against the sun. It’s endearing how curious he is, his handsome face scrunched up in concentration as he squints at the fried potato. Tentatively he pokes his tongue out and licks it, apparently not finding it too bad since he puts it in his mouth, crunching away thoughtfully. He rolls back over and picks up another one.

While Kylo eats, Hux takes the opportunity to study his tail from the back, starting at the stiff sail-fin rooted just about where his tailbone would be if he had one. At this angle the sun shines through the thin membrane between the spines, making the pale blue stand out against the darker blues and reds of his striped tail; his tail that moves him so gracefully through the water in a way Hux could never imitate no matter how hard he tries.

Sitting here like this, he's hit with a moment of disbelief that this is real at all, that he has a merman on his lap who is currently eating all his crisps. It seems like the kind of thing you'd read in a comic book or see in a Disney film, not something that would ever happen in real life.

But of course, if it were to happen anywhere at all it would be in Australia.

If nothing else Hux can say his life after moving here has been anything other than ordinary.

Thinking back on what happened the last time he touched Kylo’s tail, he makes sure to move slowly, starting at Kylo’s back where he traces all his spots, which on closer inspection reveal themselves to be the same dark blue as the deepest scales of his tail. What a funny little thing. Maybe it’s common with merpeople in the way it is with humans?

Either way he loves how they add a bit of colour to Kylo’s pale, almost grey looking skin.

Following the dip of his spine, Hux strokes over the place where skin turns to scales. A few loose one’s come off and stick to his hand. They're bigger than those of a fish, though not by much. He’s almost dry, just a hint of dampness clinging to him, enough to make Kylo glisten in the sun like the magical being he is.

Kylo doesn’t seem to mind his touch, happily crunching his way through the crisps while Hux traces his pattern, making sure not to go too far down his side. “I still can’t believe that you’re real,” he says, more to himself than to Kylo, laying his palm flat where his ass would be. “Makes me wonder what else might exist right under our noses.”

Twisting onto his side, Kylo squints up at him.  _ “There’s nothing under your nose.”  _ There’s a curious tilt to his voice, some of Kylo’s confusion transferring across with it. 

“I didn’t mean it like that. It means that I wonder what else has been living right next to us without anyone knowing.” How is it possible that no one has seen a mermaid since the days of wooden ships and pirates?

_ “We have magic. We use it to hide.” _ That explains a lot. 

Magic is yet another thing he never would have thought was real, but when he put on a bracelet and suddenly had a new voice in his head it was a whole lot harder to deny it.

Taking another gold bracelet from his wrist Kylo holds it out for him.  _ “I brought you another one so you can breathe underwater. I want to show you deeper things.” _

Letting Kylo put the bracelet on him, Hux turns his wrists to study it, the metal warming up and fitting itself around him. Will he ever be able to take them off?

Rolling fully onto his back, Kylo stares up at him with his dark eyes, reaching out with a clawed hand to touch his face. He traces the shape of Hux’s cheekbone, then his lips, his brows. He lets it happen, he did after all get handsy with Kylo’s tail so it’s only fair the merman gets to explore him in return. 

_ “You’re so pretty for a human.”  _ If he thought Kylo knew better, Hux would have been affronted, but it’s obvious that he doesn’t. The merman is entirely lost on human life. He also considers that merpeople may have different beauty standards. Maybe they’re all as vain as Kylo is. 

Still. “You’re very pretty for a fish.”

Kylo pouts, looking properly offended that Hux dare compare him to other aquatic life.  _ “I’m not a fish,” _ he says petulantly, making Hux chuckle.

“No, perhaps not.”

Just as quickly as it had changed the first time, Kylo’s mood changes again, his face brightening at whatever thought has swum by.  _ “Can we go swim now? I want to show you a weird human boat so you can tell me about it.” _

How many things lost to the ocean has Kylo and his people discovered? What long forgotten treasures lurk in these waters? He could potentially be rich and not have to go swimming with american tourists that think they know more than him. 

Isn’t that a nice thought?

“I didn’t bring my tail today.” Not that he could keep up with Kylo either way.

_ “I could pull you?”  _ The puppy dog eyes that greet him when he looks down ought to be illegal, or at least registered as a weapon. Just from looking into them he can feel how much Kylo wants to show him the  _ ‘weird human boat’  _ that Hux can only assume is something that’s been dumped or possibly a sunken submarine.

*******

It’s neither of those things, Hux realises pretty quickly when his panic of not needing to resurface for air passes. Whatever that bracelet does, it’s working; a sizable bubble of air having formed around his head when Kylo pulled him under. He’s afraid to touch it in case it bursts. What a horrible fate that would be.

The so called boat Kylo brings him to is an airplane, a jet of some kind by the look of it, nearly torn in half by the impact no doubt.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/166100947@N08/50756471511/in/dateposted-public/)

_ “What’s an airplane?” _ Kylo’s voice suddenly enters his mind, the merman letting go of his hand to swim into the body of the plane. He must have noticed Hux’s hesitation to answer, popping back out of the wreck to look at him.  _ “Just think, I can hear you.” _

Not sure exactly how that’s supposed to work, Hux tries to push an image of a plane in flight towards the presence he can feel in his head.

_ “It came from the sky?”  _

Hux nods, approaching the downed plane himself to have a look inside, it clearly hasn’t been here very long.

There doesn’t appear to be any bodies so Hux can only assume everyone made it out alive, that or the bodies have been eaten. The interior would suggest that it was a private jet. It must have been in the news recently, but Hux can't remember having seen anything. A little digging around reveals the luggage. Hux wrestles one of the no doubt expensive bags open to have a look inside. 

Kylo appears by his shoulder, holding out his hand to create a warm glow so they can see better.  _ “Does it have human things in it?” _ he asks, pulling a piece of clothing out from the bag to study it, but quickly deeming it too boring and throwing it aside.

Hux nods, taking what looks like a jewelry case from the bag to peek inside. Pulling out a silver necklace bearing a sapphire flower, he presents it to Kylo, who looks very pleased indeed. The thing must be worth a fortune and here he is, giving it away.

The way Kylo’s face lights up makes it worth it. No amount of money in the world could ever make him feel the same.

_ “Come on.” _ Kylo grins. Hux barely has time to close the case before he’s being pulled away from the wreck, the Prince already having a new goal in mind.

Through the water they go, little swarms of fish parting to let them through as Kylo swims in a seemingly random pattern, looking for something Hux isn’t privy too. The reef they end up at is one Hux has yet to explore himself, and going by the lack of human debris it’s mostly unvisited by tourists. Though at first glance it seems like an undiscovered gem, Hux very quickly changes his mind when a tiger shark comes cruising around a lump of corals.

Not in the mood to be eaten, Hux start’s tugging on Kylo’s hand, projecting his fear as loudly as he can. Looking between him and the shark, Kylo just smiles.  _ “She’s a friend.” _

A friend? How can a tiger shark be a friend?

Letting go of his hand, Kylo approaches the shark in question, stroking her head in silent conversation. Still wary, Hux hides behind a cluster of rock and coral to watch the shark open her mouth, Kylo reaching into it with no fear and coming back out without a scratch, two teeth clutched in his fist. The shark swims on, not giving them a second glance.

Swimming back over, Kylo presents him with the two teeth, smiling proudly. “ _ They were loose so she said you could have them.” _

Kylo can talk to sharks? Can he talk to other sea life too? 

The Prince nods as if Hux asked the question out loud.  _ “Everyone talks, I like the fish better than other mers. They’re nice if you give them a chance.” _

Like freely giving up loose teeth apparently. The two Kylo gave him are white and shiny, a few chips in one of them, probably from what knocked them loose in the first place. 

_ “The others hunt them to show how strong they are. They collect the teeth. I just ask for them.” _

So wherever you go there are people who hunt for sport it would seem. In that way they’re no different from each other. Humans are just as eager to kill for trophies and Kylo, having found an alternate route, just makes him that much more charming in his simplicity. Is it really possible that no one had thought to just ask before he came along?

_ “Mer’s don’t like to ask, they like to think we’re better than everyone else.” _ Just like humans then, egotistical as a whole. It’s a wonder that their prince turned out so kind and gentle. 

Lucky that he’s beautiful too. 

Looking down at the shark teeth in his hand, a smile slowly spreads across his face. It’s the finest gift he’s ever been given. He could use them to accessorise his tail to be more authentic, or he could simply wear them as a symbol of their friendship, something unique in meaning that no one else has. 

*******

Armitage likes his gift. Kylo can tell and it makes him feel all warm inside. Then the human smiles and there’s a familiar tingle in his no no square. Which is starting to become a fuck yeah area if he’s completely honest with himself. 

How would it even work?

Never having seen Armitage entirely bare he has no way of knowing how humans reproduce, or if that’s even where they do it. Either way, he wants to know. 

But first. 

_ “Let’s go back to the river.”  _ They probably shouldn’t stay out here on the reef for too long; the chances of them being seen are too great. He'd rather not find out the consequences of interacting with humans, or Snoke for that matter. 

He waits for Armitage to nod and agree before taking his hand and pulling him along, propelling them through the water as fast as he can. Armitage’s skin is so warm against his that Kylo is struggling to focus on anything else as he takes them back to their spot, their secret little hideaway from the world. 

Breaching the surface, Armitage takes several deep gulps of air. Kylo briefly worries about the strength of Snoke’s magic but the human seems to be alright, lifting himself onto the bank where his things lay. 

_ “Do you have a mate?”  _ It might be a sudden thing to ask and he’s sure his mother would call it rude, but Armitage did gift him beautiful human jewels twice today. And when he touched Kylo’s tail he was so gentle, nothing at all like when he poked his gills on their first meeting. 

“A mate?” There’s a wide eyed look on Armitage’s face, his cheeks taking on a rosy tint. Kylo still finds it funny that humans change colours sometimes. “No, I’m single. I don’t have time for dating.”

_ “What’s dating?”  _ Must be a human ritual for finding a mate. 

“When you like someone you go on dates to see if you’re compatible before fully committing,” Armitage explains what sounds like a great idea to Kylo, much better than being mated off to someone who he’d produce good offspring with when the time is right. 

Not that he isn’t allowed to be with other mers of his own choosing, but it’s simply his duty to help unite their pod with another after he’s had his fun and settled into his duties. 

_ “What do you do on a date?” _ Could they go on one?

Armitage smiles, squinting up at the sun coming through the sparse canopy of the trees. “It’s a lot like this; you do something fun together, eat food, or just talk.” So  _ this  _ is a date. Honestly though, Kylo thinks it’s a little rude that Armitage didn’t let him know first. 

So they’ve eaten, done something fun, and talked,  _ “What do we do now?” _ Is there more? Kylo sure hopes so. 

For a moment the human looks confused, then his eyes brighten and the smile returns to his face, with a soft laugh to accompany it. “Well… if they really like each other they kiss.”

Kylo knows he really likes Armitage in spite of it all, the human having proven himself to be both kind and generous.  _ “Do you really like me?”  _ he asks, letting his own feelings reach across their bond. 

Lowering himself down into the water again, Armitage comes to a stop right in front of him. “I do,” he whispers, placing a warm hand on Kylo’s waist, all his attention zeroing in on that spot. 

Or it does until Armitage kisses him. 

Now he can’t think about anything other than how soft the human’s lips are, his breath like a puff a warm wind as he steals Kylo’s away from him. He can’t believe this is what he’s been missing out on, but at the same time he’s happy he gets to share it with Hux before anyone else. This has gone so much further than he ever thought it would. 

He didn’t mean to become so much more infatuated with the human, but when Armitage found him that beautiful necklace in the sky boat and helped put it on, Kylo’s heart had flipped right over along with his stomach. As many gifts as he’s received, none of them have ever been as unique as the human necklace that lays heavy against his chest. Unlike the other mers that don’t see past their own underwater world, Armitage understands what he wants. 

When they part the saltwater taste of Armitage’s lips linger on his. Kylo licks it off to savour the taste a little longer. The tingle below has grown to more of a heat, his interest in Hux only growing after their kiss. His desire to do it again must be showing because they’ve barely parted before Armitage is closing in again.

In a bold move, Kylo flicks out his tongue to trace Armitage’s bottom lip, earning himself a pleased hum from the human. Perhaps he’ll be getting what he wants after all. 

Their kiss only deepens and Kylo is eternally grateful for his gills that allow him to breathe without having to pause for it. Armitage isn’t so lucky, though that doesn't seem to slow him down any, the human fisting his hands in Kylo’s thick hair to keep him close. This is possibly the most exhilarating thing he’s ever done.

Pushing on the human, Kylo backs them up right into the bank before reaching below the water to slip his hands inside the dumb swimming cloth Armitage wears. What does he even need it for?

He doesn’t get any further than that before he’s pushed back, Armitage gripping his wrist to hold him still. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

_ Is he sure?  _

IS HE SURE?

Why else would he put his hands there or press himself up to the human like some sort of rude dolphin? 

Too miffed to say anything, Kylo pouts, pulling away from the human altogether. Maybe Armitage doesn’t like him… How humiliating. He was probably just indulging Kylo with the kissing, stringing him along so he’d keep coming back for more. 

“Kylo?” 

Kylo ignores him, keeping his back turned so Armitage won’t see his wobbly lip. He should have known better than to trust a human. 

“I didn’t mean it like that. I meant are you sure you want to do that with me, a human?” Kylo had thought that was plenty obvious by the way he’d thrown himself at Armitage. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

_ “Humans are confusing.”  _ Yet Kylo finds himself softening, no longer as mad as he’d just been. 

Two warm hands find his shoulders, gripping him just hard enough to hold on. “Yes, I suppose we are, I just don’t want you to feel like you had to for my sake.”

_ “I wouldn’t have if I didn’t want to.”  _ Does he still? Even after Armitage asked such a dumb question and hurt his feelings?

“I’m sorry,” he says a second time, soft lips brushing even softer kisses over Kylo’s shoulder. 

Yes, yes he does. 

As confusing as Armitage Hux is, he’s also all too charming and tempting beyond all words. How was Kylo ever supposed to resist?

Turning to face him again, Kylo doesn’t wait to ask permission, pressing himself up to the human to rediscover that spark. Now there’s just a matter of how? While they kiss just as eagerly as before, his hands take to exploring, picking up where they left off at the edge of Armitage’s stupid human cloth, following along it until he finds what he’s looking for. 

_ But why is it so dry? _ It doesn’t even expand to let him in and it’s so shallow. Kylo frowns, moving Armitage back towards the bank so he can have a better look at the little hole on his lower belly. 

_ “Why isn’t it working?” _ No matter how he prods at it, it doesn't seem to make any kind of difference; the hole stays exactly the same. 

Armitage laughs, grabbing Kylo’s hands to stop him. “Because that’s my belly button. You’ll want to go lower down?”

_ “What’s a belly button?”  _ He doesn’t have one of those.

“I’ll explain later.” Guiding Kylo’s hand a little lower, Armitage let’s go again, pushing down his own swimming outfit to reveal the part of him that Kylo has never seen. He can understand now why Armitage wears it.

_ “You’re like a dolphin.”  _ He has a cock, though it’s on the outside. Humans really are oddly designed with their feet, buttoned bellies, and exposed genitals, but by now Kylo has stopped questioning it. He doesn’t have time to think about it all in this moment when there are more important things at hand. Like figuring out how they’re going to do this. 

Of course he’s been taught the basics but mers don’t usually go around mating with dolphins so he’s never really considered putting anything like that inside himself. At least the human seems to be just as confused as him, Armitage’s hands feeling along the front of his tail. “You’re not.”

_ “Don’t be stupid,”  _ Kylo snarks. 

Armitage laughs brightly at the comment. 

“Show me how.” Now it’s his turn to guide, taking Armitage’s hand to show him where his little slit is. He urges him to push one of his blunt fingers inside so he can feel where Kylo’s equivalent of a cock lays sheathed just past the entrance. 

Kylo shudders at the touch. Armitage is able to do this so much better than him by removing the fear of scratching himself. Once he feels Armitage has a handle on how to touch him, Kylo let’s go of his hand in favour of exploring the human’s cock. Even with his knowledge of dolphins it amazes him to feel it harden under his touch, the outer skin remaining so soft and silky. 

By the sounds he’s making, Armitage is enjoying his touch, little moans and sighs slipping out of his parted lips. Happy with the state he’s put him in, Kylo let’s go and pulls on Armitage’s hips to get him far enough down for what he wants to do. 

His touch has done more than enough to get Kylo excited and ready for him, and Kylo misses it as soon as it’s gone.  _ “Hold me,” _ he demands, pulling Armitage’s arms around him. 

_ This is insane,  _ Kylo thinks, but he wants it so much he couldn’t possibly swim away no matter the consequences of them being discovered. He reaches under the surface, guiding himself to Armitage’s cock. 

It feels amazing going in, Kylo making no effort to muffle himself while his body sings with the sensation of Armitage being inside of him. Armitage himself is in an equally blissed-out state, his pleasure coming through their bond loud and clear. 

After a little while Armitage starts moving, using his hands to press Kylo to him, keeping him in place. Hearing himself above water isn’t something Kylo is used to but he just can’t keep quiet while Armitage fucks into him, driving his cock as deep as it’ll go. 

Clutching at tanned shoulders, Kylo is in a world of pleasure, the drag of Armitage’s cock touching him in all the right ways. The wave is growing steadily stronger as he reaches his crest, crashing back down and leaving him gasping. Body throbbing with it, he spills his seed between them, urging Armitage to keep moving and carry him through it until he follows on a wave of his own. 

The heat of his release makes Kylo whimper, Armitage’s cock twitching as he fills him up deep inside. While it might be breaking his mother’s wish that he remain chaste, he can’t say he regrets it in the slightest. Human or mer, she’ll be mad either way if she ever finds out. 

Staying inside him, Armitage sighs, cupping Kylo’s face to guide him into a soft kiss that makes him melt entirely. “Are you alright?”

Kylo smiles and nods, for once in his life actually meaning it instead of substituting it for having nothing to say.  _ “I enjoyed it.” _

“Good.” The smile Armitage gives him makes his stomach flutter again. “So did I.”

When he pulls out it leaves Kylo feeling strangely empty, his body clenching around nothing and demanding more. If he doubted it before he knows for sure now that his feelings for the human run much deeper than they were ever supposed to, and now that they’ve mated there’s no going back. How could any mer possibly compare to what he just shared with Armitage?

Can a human ever become a mer? Kylo decides right then and there that he has to find out.

*******

It’s gone dark by the time they part ways and Kylo can't remember ever having had a better day. They’d mated a second time on the grassy bank as Kylo had insisted they make the most of their time, fearing the repercussions should they get caught. It had been no less breathtaking and ecstatic the second time, the memory of Armitage still warm on his skin as he glides through the cool water.

But tonight it would just so happen that his luck takes a turn for the worse when he's intercepted by Rey, who looks about ready to murder him.

“A Human?” she screeches, and Kylo desperately tries to figure out where she could have seen them. He’s about to deny it when she beats him to it again, a look of hurt in her dark eyes. “You lied to me, but I saw you with him at the reef. I followed you.”  _ Oh no. _

“Rey, it’s not what you think!” Did she tell anyone?  _ Did she tell his mom?  _ If she did he's as good as dead.

“I know what I saw! You were kissing him.” He can only hope that she left before it went further because he’s not sure he can handle the mortification of being seen mating by his own family. “I was going to tell mum but when I looked closer you looked so happy.”

Being a good spy was never one of his talents. It was just too much to hope that he wouldn’t trip himself up like he did by falling for Armitage Hux. Now Rey is probably going to force him to confess to their mother and he’ll be exiled like some kind of criminal just because he couldn’t help falling in love with a human. So much for learning about humans to help protect the pod.

He can’t bring himself to look his sister in the eye when he confesses meekly. “I really like him… a lot.” 

“He’s  _ human _ , Kylo. Humans are evil. Why do you think we’ve been hiding from them for generations?” As much as Kylo wants to be angry, he can’t blame her for thinking that. He did too not that long ago.

“Armitage isn’t like them.” Despite some earlier misunderstandings, Armitage Hux has never once tried to hurt him or asked where the rest of his kind is. “He’s sweet, and generous, and he teaches me things.” According to him, humans don’t even realise that mers exist. 

They’ve kept their secret perfectly safe for lifetimes now. What harm is it going to do if Kylo brings one good human into their midst?

But Rey doesn’t look convinced. “How do you know he's not lying to you? That he won’t lead the other humans right to us?”

“Because I trust him!” Armitage gives him beautiful gifts and touches him with the awe he deserves. He kisses him like he needs Kylo to live. He can’t be lying.

“You mated with him, didn’t you?” His sister gasps, covering her gaping mouth with her hand. And when Kylo doesn’t answer she keeps going, taking him by the shoulders. “You let him touch your no no square,” she says as if it’s the worst thing he ever could have done. 

“As if you don’t let Finn touch yours.” His little sister’s romance with the handsome guard is not exactly a secret. The lovelorn looks they exchange are too obvious for anyone to ignore. 

“Finn isn’t a human!” There she goes again, repeating that same thing over and over as if it’ll make a difference. And everyone says  _ she’s _ the smart one. 

“You just don’t understand.” Kylo pouts, pushing his way past her and into the caves, his mood significantly soured. No one here would understand. They don’t know Armitage the way he does, nor would they ever give him a chance to prove that he means them no harm. 

Slipping into his nest, Kylo curls up in the pile of weeds and grass that serves as his bed, wishing for everyone to just leave him alone. 

Sleep doesn’t come easy that night; Kylo is caught between the lingering heat of what he did with Armitage and the dread of what’s to come in the morning. Rey will have told their mum by then, and being the Queen she has all the means to keep him trapped here in these caves for as long as she wants. She has never understood that he has a mind of his own and it’s not focused on what she wants it to be. He’s never been suited to being a king.

Rey was hatched with the same gift for diplomacy as their mother, whereas all Kylo got was a handsome face and an eye for good fashion that no one else seems to have. He’s different than they are and no amount of trying to turn him into a diplomat is going to change that. 

Armitage Hux is the be-all and end-all for him, he’s sure of it.

In the morning he’ll have to be up before anyone else. He’ll leave before they can stop him. No one is going to take this away from him. Hiding forever might not be possible, but he’d like to at least have the opportunity to see Hux one last time. 

Only the thing is Rey beats him to the punch, but not by telling their mother like he thought she would. 

Blocking the entrance to his nest, she squeezes her way inside the space intended for one. “Go on then, why is he so special?” More like  _ "why does he think Armitage won’t murder them all" _ .

“He’s nice and he shares his human things with me. He taught me about other things that live on land and what noises they make. He even gave me human jewellery!” Lifting his arms, he shows Rey the colourful bracelets and rings Armitage gifted him. “Look! They’re so much prettier than boring seashells!”

Putting a hand on his wrist, Rey touches the smooth plastic with the utmost caution, only relaxing when nothing happens. 

“I think he wants to be like us. He has a fake tail that he swims in. I thought he was a mer when I met him… then he took it off.” Kylo’s shudders at the memory of how he'd reacted, the fear and disgust he’d felt, the betrayal. In the days since then Armitage Hux has proven himself to be so much more than what Kylo assumed he was because of how he’d been taught to see humans. If only the rest of the pod could learn. 

His sister looks at him as if he’s gone mad, yet there’s a new light of understanding in her eyes. “They have fake tails?” she asks incredulously, “How?”

Kylo laughs, seeing some of himself in his sister’s reaction, only now he can teach her that the humans don’t steal them from mers, they make their own. Then he explains how he plans to use it as a starting point for Hux’s transformation, to make it real, only he can’t do that on his own. 

If his mind didn’t protest the idea of returning to Snoke he’d ask the old eel to help, but something tells him he shouldn’t go back there and that Snoke is angry with him. As well trained as he is, he wouldn’t stand a chance against a sorcerer that could eat him whole. 

“What are you going to do?” Rey asks after he’s explained it all, running her fingers through his hair as she holds him in a comforting embrace. 

“I don’t know, I just know that I can’t do it alone.” His magic isn’t strong enough for that. He’d need help but there’s no way anyone other than Rey would.

“Why not ask mum and Luke, they’re the most powerful here,” Rey pointlessly suggests.

“You know why.” Kylo might not be the smartest mer in the sea but he knows that asking  _ them _ for help would sooner end with him imprisoned than mated for life. 

“We’ll figure something out,” Rey says.


	6. Oh My

Much like Kylo expected that turned out to be an empty promise, or one not easily fulfilled. The one thing he got from being honest with Rey is a partner in crime, which has helped him spend as much time with Armitage as possible. They even convinced a pod of dolphins to mess with the humans in Armitage’s tour group. It had been a great big mess to watch and laugh at from their hiding spot. 

Armitage hadn’t thought it was all that fun.

He complained about the dolphins helping themselves to some human picture makers. It’s just an ugly black square so Kylo doesn’t see what the big deal is, but he’s not oblivious to having upset his future partner. 

So since Armitage had seemed to enjoy the shark teeth, Kylo goes looking for more, collecting a nice handful that should show he’s sorry for hurting the human. 

It doesn’t take long for Kylo to realise messing with Armitage’s tours is the fastest way to get him angry, but taking him to explore the different wrecks in the area is the best way to cheer him back up. Armitage always leaves with a bag full of his finds. 

Soon he’s going to ask Armitage to stay with him. Kylo is certain that the human feels the same way about him after all the times they’ve mated and kissed. He doesn’t need that bracelet to understand how Armitage touches him. 

The sun is bright and blazing hot, the leafy canopy above them doing little to deflect the heat. How do humans live like this every day? It’s so dry. 

_ “If I told you you could become like me, would you want to?”  _ Kylo blurts out, lifting his head from Armitage’s chest to better look his lover in the eyes. 

Armitage squints up at him. “How do you mean?”

_ “Becoming a mer like me. I’d need help but it’s possible. I thought that’s what you wanted.”  _ Isn’t it? Why else would Armitage make a living from pretending to be like them if he doesn’t dream about living in the ocean and playing with the dolphins?

For one terrifying moment Armitage just gapes at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Then he stutters, “You can do that?” 

Kylo nods, still not sure how he’s going to make it happen but determined to do it so him and Armitage can be true mates like they should be. The powers that be had to have been what led them to meet that fateful day one moon ago, what inspired him to go up the river that morning. He’s heard the fanciful stories of true love and mates bound by fate itself, told to him time and time again when he was a hatchling to teach him the importance of a lifelong bond when his time arrives.

And now it has. Hux is the one for him, his first and his last. There isn’t a shred of doubt in his mind.

“How is that even possible?” Armitage still looks to be struggling to comprehend what he’s being offered, as if choosing Kylo is a difficult choice to make.

_ “With magic.”  _ What else?  _ “Then we can be mated and you can come live in my nest...”  _ Kylo trails off when he sees Armitage isn't as excited for their life together as he is.  _ “You don’t want to, do you?”  _ Squeezing the words out past the lump in his throat hurts, his stomach turning to rock and sitting heavy in his belly.

“Kylo… I can’t just leave my life here on land.” Sounds like an excuse to him. “I really care about you, I do, but it’s not that simple.”

_ “You could have just said no.” _ There was no need to string him along like this. If Armitage never wanted him as a mate then why would he accept Kylo’s gifts?

Pushing away from him, Kylo slides back into the water, allowing himself to sink to the bottom of the river where he fiddles with a few smooth rocks. Do humans just do things like this? Is it part of the dating? He could always dive deeper and look for other gifts for Armitage, maybe even find a great big shark and ask for a tooth that would impress even the mightiest of warriors. 

Yet if he did it wouldn’t make things any more certain, not if Hux wasn’t impressed and charmed by everything else Kylo has shown him. If only he knew what humans want in a good mate, then he could be the best mate any human could ever dream of. Maybe Snoke would know?

That’s as far as he gets with that thought before he’s interrupted by movement in the water. Armitage’s bubble encased head appearing before him. The spell looks so strange Kylo has to fight to not smile. 

“Listen to me, Kylo,” he says, his voice muffled by the water between them. “It isn’t that I don’t want to, if I could I’d come with you right now, but I have an entire life on land that I can’t just abandon.”

_ “You already said that,” _ Kylo pouts, rolling a smooth rock between his fingers. 

“If I suddenly go missing, people are going to search for me. I don’t want to put you at risk like that.”

_ “We’ve been hiding for ages already.” _ They can hide even longer still.

“Would you let me think about it?”

Would giving Armitage another chance be worth it? That’s the real question being asked, and Kylo knows the answer without thinking. As much confusion and hurt as the human has caused him, he can’t pretend that he doesn’t love him regardless. 

Kylo nods.

He’ll wait a while longer, and while he does he’ll gather Hux a collection of fine treasures and weave a necklace like no other to stake his claim on the human. He needs them all to see how serious he is about his feelings for Hux and how much Kylo needs him. 

_ “Three days.”  _ He can wait, but he can’t wait forever. 

*******

Kylo has never felt so tense in his life. The day when Armitage has to give him an answer looming ahead like a hungry eel. Not even filling his days diving to the deepest wrecks he can reach to look for treasure can ease his mind. Soon the most important day of his life will be here and he doesn’t feel like he’ll ever be ready. 

His token of affection is coming along perfectly; a work of love and patience. Most mers in this pod would turn their nose up at the blend of human and ocean treasures, the shark teeth in stark contrast to the bottle caps that shine alongside the chunks of pearl. Kylo is sure Armitage will love it because he’ll see it as what it is: a representation of their different cultures. 

He refuses to think that he might be making it for no reason at all. 

Tying off the last knot, he barely has time to hide it underneath his bedding before Rey sticks her head through the opening into his nest. “So don’t be mad,” she starts out, which isn’t very promising. “But I spoke to mum and uncle Luke.”

In that moment Kylo’s heart stops beating, a fear heavier than any Snoke ever instilled in him turning into a solid weight in his gut.

_ No. _

“Please don’t be mad! I was only trying to help!” His sister desperately tries to defend herself while Kylo fears what they’ll do to keep him from seeing Armitage again – what they’ll do to Armitage if they find him.

“What did you do?!” He'd thought Rey was smarter than that.

Putting her hands up, she keeps him from swimming away, a frantic need to see Armitage and ensure that he’s still ok making his scales itch to get moving. “Just listen to me,” she says firmly, looking deep into his eyes and fortifying their mental connection. “They want to help.”

_ What…? _

“Are you serious? You're not pulling my fins?” It’s too good to be true but Kylo desperately wants it to be. 

Squeezing herself further into his nest, she cuddles up close. “It took a lot of convincing but I think I got them to see how important Armitage is to you. Now all you have to do is bring him to the moon chamber on the night of the full moon and we’ll help you make him into one of us.”

“That’s… I have to tell Armitage.” There is a way without Snoke. He can have this; they can be happy together if Armitage has made his choice. 

“The sun isn’t even up yet, dummy,” Rey reminds him, pushing him back down from where he’s trying to wiggle past her. “I don’t know much about humans but I don’t think yours will be awake this early.”

She has a point. 

Now what’s he going to do until Armitage comes to their spot?

Preen.

That’s what he should do. It’s only right that he looks his best for his mate. 

“I have to get ready,” he tells Rey, squeezing past her, much to her displeasure. “Pass me my crown.” She’s closer to it than he is, he reasons. 

Getting the crown pretty much shoved in his face, he hurries through the tunnels and out of their home, heading for the surface with the intention of taking a long soak in the tide pools so the Garra Rufa can thoroughly clean his scales. This is an important day and he needs to look his best. 

Unlike most of his kind, Kylo has always appreciated the little worker fish that keep their tails healthy, nibbling away at their loose scales in little swarms. Without them who would do it? As if Kylo would sit for hours scraping his tail clean. He's a prince, he shouldn’t have to. 

While his tail is seen to, Kylo makes sure his crown is spotless, brushing off the few grains of sand that have stuck to it since he last wore it. He still isn’t happy that he went through so much effort for Armitage that day only for his mate not to show up. How rude.

But now he wears the token of Armitage’s affection around his neck. The human jewels are heavy compared to the colourful bracelets he was also gifted. He hasn’t taken them off since, proud to bear the claim of his mate. 


	7. How to Become a Fish

Hux has truly, wholly, and completely lost his damn mind.

When he first met Kylo he never would have imagined he’d seriously consider taking his leave of the human world. He hadn’t even though something else could possibly exist, least of all magic. Yet here he is, looking up how to get his affairs in order and what to do with his property. By all means he should be treating it as if he’s dying but that just doesn’t feel right. 

His best idea so far is just leaving it all to Phasma and trying to keep in contact with her after his change. He can’t think of anyone better suited to take over his business than her. 

Friends isn’t what he’d call them, not by any stretch of the word, but she’s loyal and she’s been with him from the start. Like him she’d seen the opportunity for profit in taking their performance to the ocean. People were just as eager to see pretend mermaids showing them around a reef as they were to watch them swim in a tank at the aquarium, and for the last few years they’ve both made a comfortable living doing just that. 

Now he’s giving it all up to become the real thing, a long forgotten childhood wish becoming reality. Only, instead of Ariel, he’s shacking up with a less-than-intelligent prince that he’s fallen head over heels for. 

Phasma won’t ever believe this. 

*******

“I don’t fucking believe this.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Phasma stands as a formidable opponent with her towering height of six feet and three inches. She could throw him like a harpoon and kill an innocent whale if she wanted, Hux is well aware. 

It’s just a risk he’ll have to take. “Believe it or not, I’ve made up my mind.” 

“And why shouldn’t I ring up the loony bin? Do you even realise how utterly insane you sound?  _ Mermaids,  _ Armitage?  _ Mermaids?”  _ she says as if putting emphasis on it is going to make any kind of difference. 

“Because I’m giving you everything I bloody own, that’s why. What does it matter to you if I disappear into the ocean?” They’ll both be getting plenty of reward on either side of the matter. 

“Do you even hear yourself?” Clearly this isn’t going nearly as well as he’d hoped. “ _ Mermaids?” _ she whispers it this time. “And you’re just going to become one of them and swim off to be with your magical prince like something out of a fucking fairy tale?”

“Well, yes.” That’s the main thing in this conversation, at least she’s processed that much. The boat knocks gently against the pier, a pile of just sanitized scuba gear laying on the deck between them. A seagull laughs at him from a post further down, highlighting this absurd scenario they’ve found themselves in. 

“The one that jumped on our boat and hissed at you?”

“Yes. There was a... misunderstanding.” Hux winces, thinking back on the sheer horror he’d seen in Kylo’s eyes when the poor man thought he hunted mers for sport. Luckily they’ve come a long way from that and learned to communicate properly. 

“You said he was an actor.” Picking up the next mouthpiece, she wipes it off with a lot of underlying violence that makes Hux fear for his own neck. 

“I thought he was.” Only he wasn’t, and now he’s about to agree to marry him, or whatever it is that merfolk do. Kylo hadn’t exactly provided him with any details. 

“And you’re giving up on all of this glamour to run - excuse me -  _ swim _ off with this guy who used to think you were a murderer?”

“Yes.” The irrationality is hurting him too. He understands where she’s coming from. “I have to do this, Phasma. Please?”

Throwing her hands in the air she turns in an exasperated circle. “Fine! I’ll do it. I’ll take all your shit from you so you can go off on your 'friendship is magic' adventure and fuck the fish man you found in a river.” Her phrasing of the situation could be better but beggars can’t be choosers. 

“Thank you.” With Phasma at the helm, he knows it’ll all be alright in the end. 

“Oh fuck off.” That seems about right. 

Keeping a modest smile to himself, Hux takes his leave of the boat that no longer belongs to him, ready to find Kylo and share his decision. 

Hux can’t remember being this nervous in years, his stomach a mess of butterflies fluttering around all willy nilly. The gravity of his choice to be with Kylo is finally setting in and what it means to be abandoning life on dry land. If he had anyone who cared about him he’d be more concerned, but what’s there to lose?

Nothing but a job pandering to obnoxious tourists in an attempt to make them respect the ocean. 

He doubts it ever works because all they ever do is look at the world through the lense of a camera so they can show all their friends back home before the reefs all die from their constant littering and pollution. What little difference it does make is barely worth it for anything other than the money. 

The drive out to their little hiding spot passes by so fast that Hux feels like he’s barely sat down before he’s pulling up to the overgrown path he’d once explored on a whim. Everything feels so different today and it makes him wonder if he’s ever really been truly happy about the choices he’s made if this is how it feels to leave it all behind. Seeing Kylo waiting for him near the rocks only brightens his mood further, the merman practically glittering in his crown. 

Kylo visibly perks up when he sees him, crossing over to the bank with two powerful kicks of his tail. He’s smiling so brightly that every one of his pointed teeth are showing. What should be a frightening display is simply a charming one paired with those dark, puppy dog eyes. 

_ “You came!”  _ he says, voice a bright blip in Hux’s mind, Kylo’s excitement bleeding through the bond.

Hux smiles, dropping his bag and sitting down in the soft grass. “I did.” Of course he came, no one else greets him so enthusiastically it can be felt in the air. 

But just as quickly as Kylo’s face had lit up he takes on a more dour expression, likely remembering why they’re here today. He quickly reminds himself to be clear with his words so they won’t suffer yet another of their common miscommunications. 

_ “Did you decide?” _ And that’s where all the tension lies. 

“I did,” Hux says again. “I want to stay with you.” There it is, out in the open, and Hux can’t help feeling better for it, like shedding a weight he didn’t realise he’d been carrying. He’s sure fish have responsibilities too but from what he’s learned they’re not quite so many and quite so big as those that come with human society. 

_ “You do?” _

“I do.” 

The smile that lights up Kylo’s face is brighter than the sun, blinding in its intensity. The sight before him makes Hux wonder why he ever even considered turning his prince down. What Kylo is offering him is greater than anything he could ever achieve on his own.

Putting his clawed hands on the bank, Kylo lifts himself out of the water with those impressive muscles of his that he loves so much to show off. Not that Hux is complaining, it makes for a bloody nice view. In fact he's so caught up in staring at his fishy fiance’s generous pecs that he can feel Kylo’s pleased amusement over their bond.

_ “You really, really want to stay?”  _ Kylo asks while slowly pushing Hux down on the ground.  _ “Really?” _

Hux smiles, letting his amusement show in a huff of laughter. “Yes, really.”

For a moment they lay there and smile at each other like a couple of fools, and Hux is flooded with the love he feels for this ridiculous creature he calls "his". However there is one very important thing on his mind that needs addressing; while it may be obvious to Kylo, Hux knows squat about merpeople and magic. 

“Kylo,” he says to get his attention back on the conversation, “how exactly is this going to work?” He’d assume turning a human into a mer isn’t the easiest task in the world. He also rather hopes Kylo doesn’t want it to happen right now since he could use a few more days to tie up loose ends on his part. 

Scrunching his brow in thought and looking like he’s running a faulty program, Kylo seemingly disconnects for a couple of minutes before coming back online.  _ “On the full moon. I need help to do it.”  _ Is all the explanation he’s offered and Hux knows it would be useless asking for more. 

If he has until the full moon it’ll give him a few more days on land. After that the best he can do is cross his fingers and hope it won’t hurt too much. 

“Do I need to bring anything?” What would he even need underwater? It’s not like he can use his phone or wear his clothes. 

_ “An offering, something pretty for me to wear as your mate.” _ That won’t be too difficult given Kylo’s penchant for liking things that are shiny or colourful, though what he assumes is going to be their wedding rings, so to speak, ought to be special. Something that represents them both. 

*******

The short few days up until the full moon pass by alarmingly fast, filled with paperwork and looking for the perfect gift for Kylo. Since money is going to be the least of his worries under the waves he doesn’t even consider the cost a problem. All that matters is that it’ll make Kylo happy.

And that it’ll survive life under the waves. Kylo would probably never forgive him if his gift doesn’t last as long as he does. 

He makes it himself in the end, picking apart various plastic and glass jewellery to string together a necklace fit for a prince. Well, it’s a necklace, not that much more to be said about it since there isn’t much in the way of skilled craftsmanship. It looks alright to him, and having made it he thinks it ought to be more special than something bought in a store. 

Though he does create a little bit of insurance with a friendship bracelet that spells out their names among colourful plastic beads. Somewhat pathetically, it’s the only friendship bracelet he’s ever made. 

When the day comes all he takes with him when he leaves his now darkened flat is his pink tail and the gifts for Kylo. His Uber meets him outside, giving him no time to have one last look at the concrete building where he’s spent the last six years of his life. It’s likely for the best; sentimentality over a building is a waste of emotion. 

The drive to the trail is the longest it’s ever been, with his driver preferring to talk and completely ignore Hux ignoring them. He’s never heard so much inane chatter about the sausage sizzle happening at a friend‘s house later in the day. Honestly, how interesting can it possibly be to gather up and eat sausages? In all his years residing in this country, Hux can with all honesty say he still doesn’t understand half of what is going on on a regular basis. 

And now, for the second time in a decade, he’s making a drastic move into a different culture that’ll leave him confused while he struggles to catch up. At this point the best he can hope for is Kylo’s family not hating him. 

When the car finally rolls to a stop, Hux wastes no time in abandoning his annoying driver with a curt goodbye, ducking into the trees before they have a chance to prattle on further. With the undergrowth slapping against his shins, Hux’s nerves are making themselves known, everything finally sinking in. When he’s close enough to hear the river he stops for a moment to listen to the world around him and feel the ground under his feet. 

This is going to be his last time standing on them, what a strange thought. After tonight he’ll never have feet again. He’ll never stand up or walk. He’ll have to learn the melodic language Kylo speaks on the rare occasions he’s been treated to that wonderfully deep voice. 

How are they going to live, he wonders. At most he’s understood that they reside under an island hidden by magic. How that works Hux doesn’t know, his prince is not the most adept at words and explaining things in layman’s terms. 

Smiling to himself, Hux resumes his walk, stepping out of the trees and onto the riverbank where Kylo lays in wait, lit up by the setting sun. In that moment he could swear the prince is glowing, his crown perched upon his head while the rest of him is bedecked in Kylo’s special brand of jewellery. 

Sitting next to him, Hux pulls his tail out of his bag, unrolling the silicon costume he’s worn for the last year. “Will I need it?” He looks at Kylo who looks back, dark eyes brimming with anticipation. 

_ “Maybe.”  _ Better be safe then. 

Kicking off his sandals and stripping down, he begins the somewhat arduous process of getting his tail on, the silicon sticking to his sweat-dampened skin. It really is too fucking hot in this country.

With the tail securely on he slips into the water with his little pouch carrying Kylo’s gifts in hand. “Am I supposed to give you these now?” It's a fairly innocent question if you ask him, still Kylo looks at him as if he’s stupid, making Hux wonder what he’s missed. “At the ceremony?”

His second guess goes over better, Kylo joining him in the cool water.  _ “Let’s go.” _

The sun is already hanging low in the sky, the light taking on a burnished hue through the few clouds drifting on the horizon. Taking one last look around, he grabs Kylo’s offered hand and lets the merman pull him underwater. 

Together they follow the river out into the ocean, passing by the wreck near the shore and into the vast emptiness beyond. They’ve never gone this way before, Kylo always steering him away from his home to preserve the secret of its location. Hux can’t say he’s ever been out this far; his eyes drawn to every sign of life they pass, little schools of fish flitting by, even a whale that Kylo seems to know. Hux is amazed at how they greet each other in song.

After what feels like a good half hour of swimming, a silhouette starts to take shape in the darkness, glowing corals lining the cave entrance set in the rocky base of an island. Kylo heads right for it, swimming through with no hesitation, Hux can only follow, finding himself surprised when the tunnel opens up into a massive cave where the roof has caved in.

He has no words to describe it other than magical, the water itself seemingly glowing blue in the rising moonlight, it’s the most beautiful place he’s ever seen.

Barely having the time to get his wits about him, he’s thrown for another loop when around them mers of all colours and sizes start appearing. He’d thought only Kylo’s family were going to help, but from the looks of it the entire pod is crowding the cavern. Just as he’s about to ask if everything is alright, three more break the surface in front of them. 

The woman in the middle, he can only assume, is Kylo’s mother, the Queen herself. Her elaborate crown sits proudly atop her greying braids, kind, dark eyes looking them over.  _ “So you’re the human who has charmed my son?” _

Feeling like anything he could possibly say would be the wrong thing, Hux looks to Kylo for help who just grins and nods with not an ounce of fear in his body. 

_ “I’m Queen Leia.”  _ She inclines her head in greeting then gestures to the two mers at her side.  _ “This is my daughter, Rey, and my brother, Luke.” _

Hux smiles politely at them all. Should he bow? “It’s lovely to meet you all.”

_ “I hope you know what we’re about to do is permanent,”  _ she continues on.  _ “After the ceremony is complete, you’ll be one of us and I expect you to look after my son for as long as you live.”  _

Taking a deep breath, Hux nods. He's ready for this. “What do you need me to do?” This far in all he can do is hope for it to be swift and painless. 

Grabbing his wrist the Queen raises his arm above water.  _ “Get rid of these, Snoke’s magic is unwelcome here,”  _ she spits. Next to him Kylo sinks lower, cheeks turning pink as he avoids looking at his mother. Hux is getting a strong vibe that his soon-to-be husband will be getting chewed out later for not just asking his mother for the help he needed. 

While taking the bracelets off will leave him unable to understand what is going on he really doesn’t want to risk Leia’s ire, the look in her eye saying loud and clear that she could snap him in half if she so pleases. Hux quickly slips off the twin bracelets, his skin red and irritated underneath like he’s been burned. How did he not notice that before?

Leia tuts, stroking her thumb over the blemished skin. Saying a few words, she places her hand on his chest, pushing him until he’s floating on his back and looking up at the fat moon shining her light down into the cave. 

She starts to sing, the rest of the pod joining her one by one until the space is filled with a choir of ethereal voices echoing off the walls. If he wasn’t so caught up in trying to relax he’d be paying better attention, but as the nerves surge back up he can’t think of anything else. 

Around him the water starts to froth, glowing blue where it laps against him. His anxiety rises when he feels himself being sucked downwards, the blue glow covering him entirely, climbing up his body until just his face remains above water and he takes one last desperate breath as the voices reach a crescendo. 

He’s pulled under. 

All he can see is the blue glow, unable to tell up from down as it surrounds him completely in a disorientating swirl. Then, just as quickly as it gathered around him, it clears. Hux scrambles to get above the surface where he sucks in a deep breath of air only for it to feel different. 

Clamping a hand around his throat, he desperately looks to Kylo for help, the firm ridges of gills digging into his palms. 

In an instant Kylo is there, a calming presence in his head urging him to breathe. Big hands cover his own, gently prying them away to give his new gills room to work. 

Breathing without the use of his mouth or nose is an odd feeling, terrifying even. Hux’s mind protesting the change after a lifetime of being human. Soon his need for air wins out, his body forcing itself to work against his panic, filling his lungs in blessed relief. 

But from one drastic change to the next his mind shifts his focus further down to where he can no longer feel his legs. No amount of knowing this was going to happen could have prepared him for it. Vision going fuzzy and grey around the edges, Hux clings to Kylo for dear life before everything goes dark. 


	8. Epilogue

Life as a merman, as it turns out, is nothing like Hux expected it to be. It took him a while to adjust to being underwater all the time, then to eating everything raw, and even sleeping without covers had been a challenge. Their home is little more than a cramped cave with a bed of grass and seaweed to cushion them from the hard rock that Hux has scraped himself on numerous times.

But as difficult as it is to adjust, Kylo is there by his side every step of the way, helping him learn in his own special way. Hux would never admit it but Leia is much more helpful in teaching him their language and customs. His brand new mother-in-law is much more welcoming than Hux imagined she’d be, willing to help him learn and understand his new life. 

Around his neck he wears the beautiful handmade necklace Kylo had presented him with in their official mating ceremony two days ago, the single, gold pirate coin acting as the centrepiece that rests comfortably below the hollow of his throat. Kylo has since shown him where he found the ancient treasure, the wreck being little more than a few rotted beams buried in the sand by now. 

Kylo had been excited over his own gift, wearing it proudly around his neck along with the hideously expensive necklace Hux fished out of that airplane. It’s an odd combination that suits his husband to a T; it warms his heart every time he sees Kylo absently touch it, tapping on the plastic with his claws. 

Then there are the more luxurious aspects to life as a fish, namely the tide pools where they have their tails groomed by the little fish they have in foot spas. Kylo refers to them as Garra Rufa, Hux just takes his word for it and tries not to squirm away from them when they swarm his tail, which just as expected had been the most difficult change to get used to. 

Going in he hadn’t known what to expect, but what appears to have happened, to him at least, is his silicon tail is now his actual tail. Just like the other mers, his scales are smooth and shiny and his fins are translucent. It’s just as real as anyone else’s, the pastel pink design never having looked more beautiful now that it is as it should be. 

Never in a million years could he have predicted this is where he'd end up, countless childhood fantasies of escape coming to fruition and all of it because he found a forgotten swimming spot in a river. A happy discovery that led to a happy ending.

  
  


*******

While our happy couple enjoy themselves in the sun, someone else is weighed down and weakened by frustration. Deep down in the darkest blue of the ocean in a cave so big you can’t see its walls, for they are swallowed by the dark,lays a figure in a little hole, surrounded by the misery he's been fostering his entire cursed existence. 

Devoid of teeth and not much more than skin and bone, Snoke still waits for that fool of a prince to return, every day losing hope that he ever will.

Damn it all to hell.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/166100947@N08/50773236726/in/dateposted-public/)

**Author's Note:**

> You can find Ellalba [here](https://ellalba.tumblr.com/)
> 
> You can find Death-Complex [here](https://death-complex.tumblr.com/)


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